I Thought Hell Was Supposed to Burn
by Sylvannastar
Summary: Kagome has fallen. But she is not left to pick up the pieces alone. What happened to break her spirit and who are these detectives that have forced their way into the life she never asked them to save? A Hiei Kagome story.
1. Default Chapter

Greetings everyone! I am sorry for doing this, but I had to re-post my first chapter because I did not save it before posting and my authors note and disclaimer didn't make it through the process...A very important thing that is necessary for all readers to know:

THIS FIC WILL BE CO-AUTHORED! I am having a fellow author collaborate with me on certain scenes that will be marked and credit must be given to her. The first few chapters are my work, but later, you will find the sections that I am referring to. If you want to make questions and comments to this person, she writes under the pen name Yabou and her e-mail will be listed there. Otherwise, all reviews for the story will be understood to be addressed to both of us and we thank you for reading the story. I hope that you enjoy! 

I do not and never will own either Inuyasha or Yu Yu Hakusho. That is my disclaimer.

A note about where the story is going...there is a mystery that the detectives have to solve! I want readers to piece together the puzzle through out the story just as the pieces are revealed to the Tentei's!

Lots of angst and gore...it is the demon realm after all and Hiei is Hiei...and Kagome well, that you have to read about as we go....very traumatic. Don't expect her to be bouncy. I want the characters to stay in character! So, again this will be long and it will have just as much character development as I can squeeze in there till I'm satisfied. 

As for the romance...Hiei is a big softy at heart...that is why he is hurt so easily and now, so very defensive about getting close to anyone. Remember his past and all the rejection he has had to deal with! Sigh...poor guy. But, Kagome is the kind of personality that sees past the mask to the injured heart underneath. And naturally, she wants to heal him! And if she could put up with Inuyasha for three years...a fire demon is just the hot topic she's been waiting for to spice up her life!

Questions? Comments? Well then, on with the story! (Those of you that read the first chapter already, the actual chapter is not changed and you can move on to chapter 2 without having to re-read this)

Chapter 1

********

Kagome picked her foot up, intent only on placing it back down in front of her. Another step. Another. One more. 

Her mind was in tatters, mocked by the ragged outfit she shivered in. One step...all her focus was on moving her feet. One at a time, marching carefully through the snow. All her effort was so exact, she kept herself from falling numerous times. To fall would mean death. She knew she could never make herself get back up. Slow...One more...another....again...She knew that things were bad. Things were very bad. But she had no time for thoughts other then to focus on her feet.

The snow was up to her knees, pulling at her legs and threatening her precious balance. 

It was cold, but she had long since forgotten that. Kagome was numb, inside and out. She had become an empty shell with nothing to move her except the urgent whispers that told her "one more step." She plunged on, not noticing when her shoe was pulled from her foot. The icy ground had even begun to feel warm against her flesh. The sensation pleased her. It was snowing still...an endless waltz of wet, white, flakes. They collected even as they rained down upon her, looking more like handfuls of snow then individual crystals. 

Kagome tightened her fingers over the objects in her hands. She could not feel her fingers and was afraid that her grip was slipping on the precious articles. She had to keep moving. She had to find shelter...though she could not remember what was driving her. Suddenly, her precise , though repetitive flow of thoughts was interrupted by a new intrusive idea. "I'm tired." Her blue lips moved soundlessly. It was as if even her vocal cords where petrified and unmoving. "Tired..." She felt a wave of warmth spreading through her limbs. It made her stumble, sent her sprawling to the ground. 

The rhythm of her motions was cut short by her fall. The soft crunch of crusted snow under her cheek never interrupted her new pattern. "I'm tired....one more step." she crawled forward on her hands and knees. One hand was fisted around the sheath of a sword and the other was wrapped around a bow. The harsh particles of ice began to collect in the wounds on her back, which had long since stopped bleeding. Now the new red of her blood flowed sluggishly from her torn knuckles and her scraped legs. The vivid color against all that white made her giggle in delight. 

"One more...another step..."

She lost her focus again and one arm collapsed under her. She thought she heard a snap, but the sound was muffled and unimportant. "Tired." She buried her face in the soft white blanket, her only thought now was one of rest. Did she close her eyes? She wasn't sure...it all looked the same. It was all an empty blank canvas, painted only with her blood and body. She was the only mark in this perfect pristine landscape. "Tired..."

Then, all the white turned black.

************************************************************************

"There is nothing out here," Yusuke complained. "Koenma doesn't know what he's talking about."

"Perhaps we should wait out this storm," Kurama agreed. "We won't be able to keep moving if it snows any harder." The fox demon heard the almost non-existent scoffing sound with his tuned senses. "Not everyone is as cold proof as you are, Hiei."

"Hn." Hiei watched the slush around his feet melt without comment. Being a fire apparition had it's uses. Being half ice apparition didn't hurt in this case either. He liked the way that his immunity to the weather gave him a freedom that others did not have.

"Look over there," Kuwabara pointed. He was easily the tallest one in the group and the next rise of snow came to his thighs. He shoved the snow out of his way, unconsciously clearing a path that the others where only too happy to take advantage of. "I think I see something."

"Another rock?" Yusuke grumbled.

"No. It's...I don't know, but it's moving." The others shoved around him, trying to see the form through the thick fall of snow. A hazy dark shape was about fifty feet ahead of them. 

"It's not moving." Yusuke sighed.

"It was." Kuwabara insisted. 

"Let us go and investigate, shall we?" Kurama calmly prodded the others into moving again. He waited patiently for Kuwabara and Yusuke to move on before returning to his place, third in the line of spirit detectives, trekking across the frozen waste land of the northern demon realm, looking for a mysterious blot of energy that appeared and disappeared on Spirit Worlds' sensors that watched the barriers between the worlds. 

"What is that?" Kuwabara hesitated to go any closer.

"It is not moving," Yusuke stubbornly repeated. He wanted no part in this mission to begin with, but Koenma had insisted on the importance of it. He would rather be back in the human world, sitting on his butt, watching bad TV programs and ignoring his drunk mother. Not much of a life, but at least it was warm. Even bundled up until he resembled a walking marshmallow was not enough to keep the numbing cold from crawling in and nipping at his extremities. 

They approached the dark figure, making out little, except that it was just beginning to cover over with snow and that it's general outline was lumpy, unlike them in their puffed out white suits that Koenma had provided when he rushed them out on this case, about two hours ago.

"Kick it," Yusuke urged the giant in front of him.

"No way. I kicked the last rock and my toes still sting. You kick it." Kuwabara sniffled and wiped at his nose with a gloved hand. 

"I thought you said it wasn't a rock?"

"Hn." Hiei walked around the huddled humans and the fox to inspect what was sure to be another rock in this frozen hell hole. The snow around him started to melt again as soon as he stopped moving. A soft hiss escaped as steam and fog swirled around him. He waited for the snow to clear and blinked in surprise at the thing he had revealed in the concealing white mantle. 

"It's a girl!" Kurama exclaimed rushing forward, as best he could though the deep snow.

She started to sink into the slush, inching down bit by bit. "Step back, Hiei!"

Hiei obliged and took a few paces back. The new snow around him immediately hissed and steamed again. He watched, interested about their peculiar find. "She's human."

"A human girl? Here?" Yusuke looked at her in amazement. "What is a human girl doing here in the Makia, much less in the frozen north?...dressed in a school uniform. Well, half a school uniform anyway..."

Kurama tried to rouse her, wrapping her up the best he could in his arms. 

"Don't bother," Hiei said. "I can't even feel her living energy. You can't save this one, fox."

"She's still breathing, Hiei. That means that there is still hope." Kurama tried to think of some way to warm the stiff girl. He decided to roll her over better so he could lift her out of the killing snow. She turned slowly, her hands clutching two long objects with a death grip. He ignored the things, pulling her close to him and rubbing her arms quickly, trying in vain to get her blood flowing better.

"What good is that gonna do?" Kuwabara asked him.

"Not much, I'm afraid. We have to warm her up." He replied. "The only source of heat we have is...." Kurama turned his vivid green eyes to the ruby red ones of the fire demon standing nonchalantly in the snow in nothing more then the short sleeve black outfit he always wore. 

"I don't know what you are planning, fox, but count me out if it." Hiei narrowed his eyes at the red haired boy clutching the half dead girl in his arms. He watched Kurama stand up, pulling the human with him, and walk over to where he was standing. "We are looking for a break in the barrier. We are not here to take care of some stupid human girl."

"Take her." Kurama calmly thrust the girl into Hiei's arms. Against his wishes, Hiei found himself standing there with a frigid woman against his chest. The snow and ice on her melted swiftly, soaking him in the water and slush. 

"Damn it, Kurama. I don't want her." He thought about just dropping her back into the snow.

"You are the only one that can keep her alive until we can get out of here." The foxes logical explanation gave him little choice. 

"Hn. Warming a human up this fast will kill her anyway, after being frozen as she was." Hiei said, losing patience with the other demon.

Kurama paused and waited for Yusuke and Kuwabara to begin walking again. "We will have to take that chance. It is her best hope until we can find shelter." 

"What do you mean "we"?" Hiei sighed. He followed after them, shifting the girl's slight weight until he reached a more comfortable position. He looked down at her, surprised to find that her hair and face were dark with matted blood. Her torn and ripped shirt and skirt were also similarly colored and in her hands she clutched..."She has a sword." he announced loudly. "And a bow."

Kurama turned back around and walked over to the shorter demon. "A sword?" He pushed the stiffened hair away from the girls hands and inspected the weapon. A beaten and worn sheath with a sword and a broken bow were in her clenched fists. Her fingers were white from both the weather and the tight hold she had on the two objects. Kurama wrapped his hands around the hilt and tugged gently. Her fingers never budged. "I think it is frozen to her hands. We will have to take a closer look at it later."

Hiei looked at the girl, curiously. 

"Do you think she is the one that broke though the barrier?" Kuwabara asked.

"No way. I can't sense any power on her. She's barely alive, as it is," Yusuke pointed out.

"She is probably a casualty to whatever did get through the barrier, judging by her condition. Whatever broke though must have got away, but it dragged her in behind them." Kurama hypothesized. 

"What about the sword?"

"We'll have to wait and see if we will get the chance to ask her." 

"Do you think we should head back?" Kuwabara nudged the team leader with a pointed elbow covered in three inches of padding.

"Nah," Yusuke blew into his hands. "We best find shelter for the night or we'll be in the same condition as that girl. We couldn't make it back tonight if we wanted to." 

Kuwabara nodded and shoveled his way through another drift. "We could go over to there. I bet there are caves..." he pointed to the west.

A steep cliff, just on the horizon rose up from the white sheet under it. Its shadow was long and thick, testifying to its size and potential for shelter. The team waddled ungainly westward, two human boys, two male demons, and their newly acquired companion, a half frozen girl.


	2. Chapter 2

Please go back and read the note that I added to the first chapter!

Hello again! There weren't any questions that I could answer without giving away the story, so I'll get right to it and tell you: There will be things that are not explained right away...that is the mystery part of this fiction! If anything really confuses you, write to me and I may answer! Also, if you want to be notified of updates right away, send me an e-mail and you get a prize too! (A sketch fanart with each update) nothing fancy, but stuff I do for my own amusement...

Thank you to all the reviewers that took the time to read and tell me what you thought. It does make a difference when I know that people are reading and enjoying what I write. Thanks! 

Sylvannastar

Chapter 2

********

Kagome drifted back into a semi-conscious state. She couldn't focus, but she wasn't sure why. _Am I hurt? Are my eyes closed? _She tried to open her eyes but found them held shut. The ice crystals on her eyelashes ensured that she was left in the dark. The numbness was the same, but now, a strange floating sensation enveloped her. It was as if she was being carried. The energy around her was unfamiliar but comfortable. She felt her self cocooned by the sensation, wrapped almost lovingly in its embrace. 

Kagome remembered where she was supposed to be. _I'm in hell...That's right. This must be what it feels like to die. _She let the blessed emptiness consume her again, her last thought, was almost comforting. _It isn't so bad. I thought it would hurt more..._

************************************************************************

"It's dark."

"Of course it's dark. It is a cave, stupid," Yusuke pointed out.

"Well, I'm not going in there first. You go in." Kuwabara peered into the dark hole, abandoning his macho attitude long enough to ensure that his life was in no danger.

"This was your idea," Yusuke reminded him even as he took the first few paces into the dark cavern. 

The darkness was heavy. Kuwabara shivered and rubbed his gloved hands over his face several times. "I think it's actually colder in here then it was out there." 

"Hiei?" Kurama requested quietly.

The fire demon stifled a long suffering sigh and let his energy flare to life. The sudden brightness and wave of warmth crept out ward from where he was standing. "Try blocking the entrance, moron. I won't stand here all night."

Kurama ignored the insult and pulled two seeds from his hair. "You'll have to soften the ground first, Hiei." 

"Hn."

Kuramu tucked the two seeds into a few inches of soil and laid a hand over them. Two sprouts became two stalks and leafed out into a bushy tangle of vines and leaves, effectively blocking the cold wind from entering the mouth of the cave. "Will that do?" He studied the plants critically and walked around it's perimeter. 

The cave started to warm immediately. The pocket of heat rapidly spread and warmed the chilled detectives. The increased temperature made fingers and toes sting and burn, causing the boys to smack their hands together in an attempt to ward off the sensation.

If the slight tingling caused them discomfort, it sent the girl into convulsions. "Kurama! Get over here!" Hiei yelled, trying to keep his hold on the girl.

Kurama and Yusuke ran over and tried to take the girl from Hiei, laying her gently on the hard floor. Kurama kept her head in his lap, to keep her from hitting it on the stone surface beneath her. Hiei, tried to dispel the sense of guilt that tugged at the back of his mind. He should have know better then to make such a drastic change so quickly. He stood back, watching with out comment as Kurama tried to sooth the girl's fit. Yusuke held her shoulders to the floor until an unexpected knee to the gut had him fighting to pull in air. Hiei watched as Kuwabara ran in to help. He crossed his arms, following every move each of them made with his observant crimson eyes.

The girl eventually calmed, the tremors that wracked her body lightening. Kurama sucked in a relieved breath and began to examine the girl with more interest. She was filthy, covered in blood, gore and dirt. The melted snow had only made her soggy as well, and did not help to clean her of the mess. His fine nose picked up the scent of several different types of blood. It was not all hers. The faint trace of demon was also on her, supporting his idea that she had fallen victim to some demon's attempt to cross the barrier.

Her grip on the sword and broken bow never lessened. She held tightly to them as if they were a life line. He would let her keep that comfort for the time.

"Well, she's alive."

The red haired kitsune looked up at Hiei. "Why do I feel you say that as if it is a bad thing?" He asked. Hiei ignored the way Kurama was now watching him so intently. He knew the fox was waiting for him to give them his opinion of the human laying there on the floor. His Jagon eye allowed him to see and sense things that others could not. In this case, however, he could barely feel the girl's living energy. She had no spirit energy at all. There was nothing to say of any importance, so he said nothing.

Hiei studied the girl in much the same way Kurama had just done. He was more apt to pick up any visual clues rather than ones gained by scent or instinct. Her death grip on the items in her hands was probably just that. He had little faith that the weak ningen would survive. And now that Kurama had insisted on an attempted rescue, the woman would have to suffer before finally expiring. It would have been more merciful to let her slip away in the snow. She had been past feeling it...now, she was doomed to fight a losing battle with all of nature against her. Humans were not meant to experience nor survive the conditions they had found the girl in. Even if she did somehow survive the physical trauma, there was no guarantee that she would be able to get past the mental and emotional scars that the demon that pulled her here was sure to have left behind, judging on her condition alone.

The matted dark hair had thawed and lay in ragged limp clumps about her. It was long, perhaps down to her hips. A thick spay of bangs hung in her face, hiding the bruised eyes and several wicked scratches. Her shirt was probably white once, but it was no more then a dirty and bloody rag now. Her green skirt was in much the same condition. Long marks and bloody slices marred the skin of her long legs and over one hip where the cloth was torn beyond salvation. It looked as if she had been attacked brutally. As she warmed, the wet patches on her clothes began to spread new blood in time with her slow heart beat.

Hiei pitied the creature.

"She's still half-frozen," Kurama gently rubbed at her exposed arms. "We have to clean her up and assess the damage." 

Hiei frowned, thinking that it would be better to just let the poor woman fade away. But, he was never one to press an issue when it didn't really concern him. If the fox was determined to try to save the girl, let him. He watched with intense focus as the girl started to shiver. It meant that her body was at least attempting to warm itself. Kurama saw this as improvement. Hiei viewed it as extended torture. Some things just weren't meant to be.

Hiei's eyes snapped up when Kurama straightened the girl out and stood. The fox was tall, not as tall as Kuwabara's excessive form, but easily taller then he was himself. Hiei knew he was short. He was almost delicate in build, but with the muscles and tone that proved he was no soft youth. His height was always a sore spot with him. It make others see him as weak or lacking. Hiei could easily prove to anyone that this perception was wrong, but that usually resulted in the death of the poor fool who had insulted him to begin with and then, there was no one left to warn the next guy that Hiei was not a demon to treat with disrespect. 

A violent shudder ran through the girl at their feet, pulling his eyes back down to her own small frame. She wasn't very tall herself. She couldn't be much more then a few inches taller then he was. She was definitely shorter then Yusuke. "You shouldn't have brought her here." He finally said to the fox.

"I have to at least try to save her, Hiei," Kurama replied. "If she was an innocent bystander dragged here by some demon, we have to do something to try to atone for this crime."

"You didn't commit this crime."

"I know, but I am plenty guilty of many others. Maybe this way I can at least make a difference in one life that is not my own. I am not the selfish creature that I was before."

"Hn." Hiei followed this thought of logic and concluded that if the fox was right, that made him selfish for wanting to allow the woman to die in peace...somewhere away from him. So, maybe it was a little selfish, but the fox was healing her for his own selfish reasons too. He was not doing it to help this girl, but in a way to repent for past transgressions.

Hiei started to rein in his energy, feeling that the cavern had warmed enough. Yusuke and Kuwabara has shed their ridiculous white, lumpy coats and were currently stomping around in the puffed up pants that went over their regular clothes. Kurama pulled the coat from his own shoulders, and quickly followed it with his shirt and undershirt. Naked from the waist up, the fox dragged the coat back up over the smooth skin of his shoulders and zipped the thing closed.

"What are you doing?" Kuwabara blinked at Kurama.

"Yes. What are you doing?" Yusuke repeated, knowing that the first question would probably be ignored simply because Kuwabara had been the one to ask it.

"I need to make bandages. We have nothing else to use. I'm afraid we came unprepared for injuries." Kurama quickly tore the two shirts into long strips, focused wholeheartedly on his self-appointed task. Kuwabara quickly added his own large shirt to the pile, claiming that it was only honorable to make such a sacrifice for a wounded girl. Yusuke grumbled and followed along with the others. 

They all looked at Hiei. He snorted and crossed his arms. He wasn't about to let them tear his clothing into shreds for a girl who would be dead before the night was over. Besides that, he didn't have a coat, and though he wouldn't admit it, he wasn't completely weather proof.

Kurama sighed, and finished his task. He left the sleeves of Kuwabara's shirt intact to use as a wash rag and clean the dirt and blood from the girl's skin. "Hiei could you heat that puddle of water over there in that depression? I can use that to clean her injuries."

A low place in the cave had collected about two feet of water, it was enough to take a bath in, but Hiei quickly complied, and in minutes the water was steaming gently. Kurama had the other two help him carry the unconscious girl closer to the pool of hot water and settle her next to the edge. He slowly began the painstaking process of washing and cleaning the wounds that seemed to grow in number as he did what he could to mend them.

Hiei stood , tense and alert to any change in the energies surrounding the cave. They were in the Makia after all, even if it was the north ice-bound region. He stayed focused on their objective, wanting nothing more then to be free from this land and all the memories it held. They were here to discover the source of a large energy rupture that had registered on the Spirit World monitors that governed the energies of the barriers between the worlds. It was obvious something had gotten through. Now they needed to know what it was...or who.

He watched the drama in front of him with half his attention and straightened suddenly when the fox pealed the shirt from her shoulder. A gaping hole was gashed into her left shoulder, close to her collarbone. 

"What the hell did that to her?" Yusuke asked, concern written in his brown eyes.

"She's worse then I thought," Kurama winced as he probed the deep wound with the edge of the blood soaked cloth.

"I wonder what happened to her."

"She was obviously injured when that Youkai dragged her through the barrier. She must have fought and managed to get away or perhaps it just lost interest in her once it had safely passed through." Kurama tensed when the girl let out a ragged moan. It was the first sound that she had made since they had found her. "Please don't let her wake up now," he pleaded to no one in particular.

Hiei closed his eyes and tried to bring the girl's energies into focus. Other then her strained life energy, she was void. That wasn't right, though. Everyone had a little bit of spiritual power. He delved deeper and was rewarded with more of the emptiness for his efforts. It was as if she only existed on the physical level...as if she had no soul.

Another moan grated in the silence. She was in pain. Hiei turned away from the sound. He had warned he fox. She was beyond aid. Trying to keep her here was a torment she did not deserve. 

Hiei tried to stem the feeling of guilt that reminded him that he had helped in bringing her here, even if it was against his better judgement. He just hoped that if it were possible, that the girl be spared and whole when this was all over. However, Hiei did not put much store in hope. It was a false and bitter thing that served to only deepen a person's pain when it failed.

He wondered what her name was, and if there was someone out there that would miss her when she was gone. It was too bad...she would be just another missing person when all was said and done. He watched her shiver again and wondered at the fact that she was alive at all. Maybe she was stronger then she looked, much like himself. He scoffed at that. No human girl could begin to compare to the strength that Hiei was forced to amass inside himself for necessity sake.

No this woman would not last much longer. It was a pity, really, washed up, she was beginning to be quite beautiful. She probably had had a good life waiting ahead of her...


	3. Chapter 3

Well, this is the newest chapter...Three! Yay! 

I have only a few things, really, to say. First, thank you to all the reviewers who reviewed. Second, thank you all for being patient. Third, there are a few readers that went out of their way to do something that really bothered me and I would like to address the problem now. WE have been flamed. And as easy as it is to ignore the trash that some people say, several people went out of their way to search out Yabou's e-mail address and directly insult both us and the story. Quite a bit of effort on the flamer or flamers' part. Even though we got a bit of a laugh from the content (sniggers) of the e-mail, the stupid part was that they sent these e-mails to the person that had not even written anything yet. Anything that they thought was wrong and that they felt the need to complain about, was my work. So, if you two are reading this, your stupidity shined through! Congratulations.

And a quick note from Yabou~

~ Hiya people! I just wanted to say hello since this really is my first "appearance" in this fic with SylvannaStar. Glad you all are enjoying the fic so far, and I hope that you continue to do so. Thanks for reading, ~ Yabou.

That goes for both of us! Enjoy!

Sylvannastar

**************************************************************************

The girl started to thrash again when Kurama was tying up the last bandage. He held her down, careful not to press upon any of her wounds. She cried out once, a pained sound that left all four boys feeling sorry for her. When she had calmed again, Kurama turned her a bit, until he was holding her head over the water.

Hiei watched the fox demon calmly wash the girl's dark hair. The water rinsed the majority of the blood away, and smoothed the tangled locks into thick silky strands. "_Why _are you doing that?" he asked the fox exasperated. 

"It is soothing. I thought it might make her feel better."

Hiei looked at Kurama as if he were crazy. The girl did seem calm now...of course, she was also unconscious. Hiei felt no need to point this out, but stood by his first impression. The fox was insane.

"If I hold her up, will you dry her hair?" Kurama refused to look up, knowing Hiei was probably getting annoyed with him. That he expected the fire demon to do something so useless...for him anyway...was sure to aggravate the other man. Despite his gruff manners, Kurama knew that Hiei had a caring heart...or at least an honor code that refused to let him prey upon those weaker then he was. He heard the long drawn out sigh and smiled slightly.

Hiei watched the other demon struggle to pull the girl into a half-sitting position. He reached out with his energies and quickly heated a small pocket of air that pulled the dampness from the thick ebony tresses. When he was finished, her long hair hung in soft cloudy waves to the small of her back. His analysis before had been correct. She really was quite beautiful. He almost wished he could have seen her before all the bruises and scratches marred her skin.

The cave was dark, illuminated only by what energies Hiei was allowing to shine through his aura. Kurama looked around until he found a clear place near the opposite wall where the girl could lay down. "You should stay near her," Kurama told Hiei as they watched her shudder again. "She'll need your warmth before the night is through."

"Hn."

Kurama retreated to lean against the other wall, near Yusuke's snoring form. He was careful not to look at the fire demon, knowing that any sign that he was watching could cause Hiei to be difficult. He would sacrifice comfort and convenience just to prove a point that he was immune to feelings and emotions of any kind. Hiei was strange that way...

Kurama was all about comfort and convenience. He hadn't become one of the best thieves ever to plague the Makai just for the sport...but, that was behind him now, and though the quality of his life had not fallen to such an extent that he was worried about his comforts, he knew he could always get his paws on what ever he may need...or want.

Hiei was careful to wait until the fox seemed asleep before sinking to a sitting position near the girl. He didn't want it to look like he was getting soft...He stared hard at the woman, and wondered if it would be worthwhile to take a peak into her mind. He fingered the white strip of cloth that was tied over his Jagon eye and considered if it was acceptable to invade the mind of the dying girl. There was no doubt in his mind that she would die. He still could not detect anything but the faintest bit of life energy surrounding her, even though he sat right next to her.

_She's probably nothing but a silly human girl with a head full of stupid nonsense..._Hiei scoffed. He had no desire to see her thought about the newest fashions or the cutest boys in her school or what ever modern teens think about. Deciding that she had nothing worth taking the time or effort to retrieve from her mind made him drop his hand back to his side where it automatically went to rest on the hilt of his sword. The only information that she might have that would be of any interest to him was an image of the demon that brought her here...and unless she was thinking about that demon right now, he would not be able to find that particular information by simply wanting it.

Delving into her mind seemed less and less appealing as he thought about it. He frowned at himself for even considering it. Now, it seemed like nothing but an extremely stupid idea. One he felt annoyed at himself for even contemplating to begin with. He decided that being angry at himself was a waste of energy and relaxed against the cold stone of the cave wall.

He found himself staring at the slender form at his feet again and had to force himself to look at something else. He settled for the dirt floor. It was a floor. Completely covered in dirt and dust. Marred by a few light tracks the boys had made...and the faint stain of blood where the girl had rested when they first brought her in. That though automatically made him look back to her...Damn it. He grit his teeth and cursed at himself. This time, he couldn't pull his eyes away. She was stirring, a slight movement that was no more then a twitch which indicated that she was dreaming...

_What is she dreaming, I wonder..._He fantasized that she was reliving the torture of the demon attack and falling through the barrier in some ghastly nightmare. He found his hand had traveled back up to touch the white head band again and narrowed his eyes at her petite figure. With his luck, it was nothing but a blind date gone wrong that was plaguing her thoughts. 

He snorted and looked over to the other guys on the team. Cuddled together, they appeared asleep and rather uncomfortable. He smiled rather wickedly. Their discomfort was in some small way amusing to him. Perhaps because he felt that they were spoiled and needed their eyes opened to the harsh reality of the world...or perhaps it was the fact that he was completely at easy in nothing but his regular clothes, in a cave surrounded by snow, in the middle of the demon realm. 

The irony was in that he should be the one with the greatest problems with this case. He was entirely too close to the home and family that had never accepted him and the place of his own cursed origins. As a forbidden child, he had been cast away, left to die...Now, here he was, stronger and more powerful then they had ever dreamed he would become. They had been right to fear him...the koorime had been wise in their assessment of the fire demon and his birth. There was no place for him here in the frozen wastes where only the ice apparitions made their homes.

Hiei was left to wonder though, since there was no way short of invading the girls mind to find out what dreams she was living...

**************************************************************************

(Okay everyone, here is the _collaborated_ efforts of both myself, and Yabou in this section. I will be sure to grant credit to any parts of the story that were not specifically written by my hand alone. So, thank you Yabou!!!!)

A numbing pain jolted sharply through Kagome's body as each ragged breath forced its way through her aching lips. So much pain… Flashes of red, black, and silver flew quickly in and out of the edges of her blurred dreamscape. She knew this wasn't real. Hell had to be more definite than this. This...this was memories blurred by the raging of her emotions and the swell of magic straining against her barriers for freedom and release. 

Kagome decided that she hated the color red. It surrounded her, enveloped her. It invaded every space and painted her dreams...Kagome even imagined that she could smell the color. It was the essence of pain and death. It was bloody crimson and broken hearts. It was memory and time. It was hopelessness and emptiness. More then anything else, it reminded her of him...

It was consuming her. And she was so frightened. It was all she saw...and everything that she wished could fade away. The scarlet color was all there was in this world. It was all she had...when everything she wanted was beyond her reach.

Red.

Sunset.

Battle.

Death.

Blood.

Red.

She attempted to focus on any one area of the foggy frontier. The throbbing pain threatened to overwhelm her as she watched unclear smears falling through the haze. She believed that they were manifestations of the energy swirling around her. She imagined that she could feel tears pricking at her eyelids as a pain wrenched away her focus on the strange patterns of energy surrounding her.

Another wave of agony shot through her limbs as she strained desperately against the swirling darkness that slowly seemed to be overpowering her system.

She could feel the strong emotions tugging at her very soul, compelling her to continue on and finish her uncertain mission. There was something left undone, though she couldn't remember what that something was. She grit her teeth against the dizziness and allowed those sensations to define themselves in her mind. She found sadness… anger… desperation… and they were hers. An ever-growing pain clouding her world, forcing everything else to fade away into a recent memory that solidified into another draining dream.

Kagome was frozen in cold...in fear...in pain...and in time. "Inuyasha! Run!" she screamed. But she found even her voice had left her. She was trapped, a statue of herself watching the boy she loved fight for their lives....

A dark mass struggled in a wave to overtake the figure before her eyes. It spread, slinking through the air, silent and deadly. Thick tendrils drifted toward where she stood and Kagome forced herself to ignore the bone chilling terror that was threatening to send her running for safer ground. She would have turned tail and run long ago if it were not for the lone figure clothed in red that stood to defend her. She would not abandon him. She could not abandon him. 

"Run!"

He couldn't hear her. It was no more than a dream...a memory. But the fear, the pain was real enough even now, even here. "Inuyasha..." she whimpered.

(End of collaborated section)

**************************************************************************

Hiei pursed his lips and glared at the ningen at his feet. Her whimpered plea was garbled and unclear, but he heard her abused voice clearly enough. It was scratchy and hoarse from fever and disuse. Noticing her shiver again, his body automatically responded by increasing the temperature. He realized that it was probably a losing battle and that he should not even bother to attempt to comfort her, but somehow, he pitied this human girl.

Studying her dark head and the lines of pain bracketing her mouth even in her fretful sleep, he wondered at his own reaction. Pity was probably wasted in this case, but it was there all the same. She was lost, far from home and family and destined to die alone.

He shifted uncomfortably and traced the edges of the hilt of his sword in a meditative movement. He knew why that bothered him and he scowled at his own weakness. Hiei firmly believed that this was very close to the death that he would one day face himself. He had no home, no family, and few real friends. The closest person to him was the fox, and that was more of a carryover from their original alliance then an actual friendship...not for lack of trying on the kitsune's part, but Hiei found it difficult to open up to anyone. 

Oh, he was fully aware of the benefits of close companions, but in truth, Hiei was unable to push aside the concern that once someone got to know him, they would leave him. He didn't know if he could face that kind of rejection again. Even the unintentional abandonment that came from growing apart, finding other more intimate companions, or the death of anyone he would come to like was a threat to his carefully balanced emotions. And Hiei knew that balance was essential for his very survival.

The mixing of demon blood was not uncommon, how ever, the mix of ice apparition and fire demon was unheard of. Any child created from such an unnatural union would be fighting for its very survival for the entirety of its existence. The two elements warred each other, each trying to consume and destroy. Hiei was in constant turmoil with in his own blood. A slip, and he could lose control completely and fall into the storming rages that battered at his inner spirit. And he knew that he was too strong to go into a demon rage and not cause a vast amount of damage...

Twisting aside, he faced the sleeping girl more fully and peered intently at her scratched face. The softest whimpers were escaping from her chapped pink lips and he winced when she jerked in pain. Surprised she wasn't dead yet, Hiei scanned her bruised body and saw that the bandages covering her shoulder wound were starting to show a faint pink where her blood was seeping through. Kurama would have to change those in the morning...

Hiei scowled. What was he thinking? It was not like she would still be alive by the time the sun found its way to the horizon. He determined to ignore his strange burden and instead looked at the weapons still clutched in that unyielding grip. Inching closer in curiosity, Hiei prodded the woman in the arm before settling nearby. He lack of response encouraged him to reach out a hand and tug at the broken bow resting across her stomach. She jerked again in response and moaned loudly. Hastily releasing the warn wood, he stared at her face until the lines over her forehead relaxed. 

He frowned at her and turned back to the objects she carried. More then the bow, the sword interested him. He was quite good with a blade himself and found the battered sheath and hilt were the most curious things about this situation if you disregarding her sudden appearance itself.

Careful so he did not wake her, he reached out a hand to touch the chipped and beat up hilt with the tips of his finger....before he made contact with the weapon, Hiei examined her face again. She seemed more peaceful then she had earlier and he was relieved. Her dark hair was spread out around her and curled in little wisps over her eyes. He found himself wondering what color those eyes were. 

Feeling more then slightly frustrated with his own meandering thoughts, Hiei firmed his focus, thinking to grab the sword by its hilt to pull it from her grasp for a closer look. Just as he was about to take his opportunity to relieve his boredom with the dented katana, the girl sighed and shifted closer to his warmth. Finding the young human pressed against his legs was aggravating and he wanted nothing more then to push her away from him. But then, contact with another person was foreign and just as much as a curiosity to him as the rusted blade in her grip. Dropping his hand back down to his side, Hiei decide to let her have her things. He could always look at them after she passed into death. Until then, he could find amusement in analyzing his responses to the dirty ningen...who dared to touch him....

She seemed to be pressing herself closer as the dreams continued to terrorize the injured girl. Hiei normally would have killed her for taking that liberty. It wasn't that he disliked contact, though that was part of it. He just couldn't trust anyone that much. If someone got close enough to touch him, they were close enough to hurt him. That was another lesson he learned early and quickly. But this ningen female was no threat. She couldn't even open her eyes to see the danger she was placing herself in by attaching herself to the forbidden child.

And he couldn't help but notice how she visibly calmed when she touched him. Some how, his presence was enough to sooth the unconscious girl, though he could not see how anyone could get comfortable next to him. He knew he was a walking threat, a creature avoided by others even before they could identify him and recall his reputation. It was the vibe that he deliberately sent out; it was a warning and a promise that any death that he deemed necessary would be long and painful.

But this girl, she ignored that and seemed to be reaching for the person under the battle hardened criminal. Hiei shivered and was surprised at the sensation that she was causing to run through him and up his spine. The lone warrior was...comfortable with her proximity. 

He shook his head and leaned carefully back against the wall without disturbing her position. He could see every detail of her wounds sharp against the pale skin and bandages that peeked through the holes in her clothes. After a few minutes, she sighed and the lines on her face relaxed as the nightmares left her. He saw the softening of her features and traced over them with his gaze. There were so many questions that he may never know the answers to, so many things about the ningen that intrigued him. With a faint smile flitting over his features that lasting only long enough appear as if a shadow had passed over him, he raised his body temperature again and tried to squash the nagging idea that the girl might actually make it . After all, she was strong enough to risk nearing him. She couldn't be all that weak if she found his presence, even in her sleep, no threat. 

Hiei relaxed enough to rest casually against the wall of the cave with the young dark haired girl taking comfort in the touch of his body against hers. And odd as it was, he too found a measure of peace in the moment. His hand slipped back to his sword hilt as he thought about the mission and the beaten up surprise currently snuggled beside his knees. There was room for answers later, he thought, _if _she healed enough to wake up...

  
  



	4. chapter 4

Okay...cracks knuckles where to start? Sorry? Well...it did take a while to get this up. It is no longer allowed to post ANs as a chapter and I DO respect the rules. So, if anyone is looking for information on updates, please check the bio! This is where I will make any announcements about delays and such...oh, yeah. FINALS ARE OVER! YAY! And I passed them all. . um...recent problems ranging from heath issues and computer viruses also played a role in the lack of updates. So Thank you everyone for being so patient with me. I am updating two chapters here and then I will be out of town for several weeks (back into the wilds of Wisconsin where I will surely face internet withdrawal) before crawling my way back home to write more before summer school starts! Unless of course, I get eaten by a bear..or trampled by mad dairy cows... My other stories will also have one update this week before I leave so be aware! Anyway, thanks from both of us for reading and for your encouraging comments!

Sylvannastar and Yabou

Chapter 4

Hiei knew the moment she started to dream again. The slightest movement of her frail human body against his legs sent a message to him that she was still alive and still fighting for her survival. He watched the dark-haired beauty through half closed lids and waited. He was no longer certain if he was waiting for her to die, or to live. Either way, it did not really affect him enough to cause a difference in his life. But in the mean time, it was a welcome distraction from the thoughts that would consume him in the silent moments of his life. Anything was better then reliving your past and all your mistakes...

He let his mouth fall into the natural scowl that had become a habit and tensed his shoulders, trying to banish that thought before it developed into a brooding session. He deliberately kept as still as his body would allow, fighting the impulses to move and run that come with the fire apparition side of his blood lines. That intensity and energy mimicked the flames they were born from, and could easily threaten him if he lost control. His Koorime half was not built to take the heat and speed of a full fire demon.

He had to keep himself controlled at all times so that he would not burn himself out. However, when in battle, or when he did move, it was obvious that he enjoyed the quick and graceful movements of the flames that he answered to, when all was said and done. Though he had both ice and fire apparition bloodlines, Hiei favored his father's heritage more than that of his mother and the people that abandoned him as a child. Had he let go of the bitterness he felt for that abandonment, he may have developed the skills of an Ice Apparition...but he had not been given the chance. And though he had to learn the ways of fire on his own as well, as a child, it and been easier to repress the inherent abilities of his mother's blood rather then being constantly reminded of his exile...

Feeling alone was something that Hiei had become so used to, that it felt strange to him to be with others. He knew that it was a bit odd that he would choose to remain apart from others still, but the way he had lived so far, had proven he could survive without. Without anyone. He was comfortable with the pain of loneliness. Like a sickness that stays, he was accustomed to his singular ways, unhealthy though they may be.

Unhealthy...sickness...wounded...the girl stirred again, tears slipping from under her lids and a wince of pain twisting her bruised features. Her dreams were full of images as dark as Hiei's past...

Kagome heard the voice shrieking in her mind. It pierced her heart in ways the she couldn't even comprehend. She knew that voice...knew the terror that was causing it to swell into such a pained outcry. Desperately, Kagome tried to find the source. She twisted in every direction, panted with exertion...and saw nothing.

It was dark, and the mists of her dream world flowed around her, mocking her inability to find peace in her own head. She knew that she was still dreaming...she could tell that what she saw was nothing but what existed in her mind...though she also knew the truth of the memories that these scenes stemmed from.

The howl of an agonized child echoed through her thoughts no matter how she tried to find the source. Unable to hide the tears that coursed down her cheeks, Kagome winced as the sound went on and on. Unable to hold it back, Kagome started to yell for the child.

"SHIPPO?!" she tried to yell over the screams. "SHIPPO, WHERE ARE YOU?!" She sobbed and clenched her fingers into fists.

Finally, when she was unable to find the figure that was still screaming in her mind, Kagome tried to turn from it. Hiding her head in her hands she dug her blunt fingernails into her own forehead and screamed her own terrible howl that sent shudders down the spines of everyone that heard it. That is when it got eerily silent.

Hiei bolted upright when the silence was shattered by a scream of pain so intense that he found himself cringing in sympathy. He shoved the half drawn katana back into its sheath and scooted away from the ningen female that was currently letting loose a sound so agonized, he could not even begin to comprehend what had happened to aggravate her.

"What is wrong with her, fox?" he demanded harshly of Kurama who had scrambled over on hands and knees in his hurry to help the injured woman, while the two humans were still trying to untangle themselves from one another. Hiei did not spare them a glance, but kept his eyes trained on the girl now hissing sobs between clenched teeth.

Kurama shook his head and pressed a trembling hand to her forehead. "She's feverish," he whispered sympathetically and brushed his hands over the bruised flesh around her eyes and cheek.

"She's been that way for a while now," Hiei admitted. "She has been dreaming..."

Yusuke finally kicked Kuwabara off of him and stumbled over to the other two team members before he crouched down to stare along with them at the pinched face of the dark haired girl. "That was no dream," he sighed. "That was a nightmare..."

"Hn," Hiei agreed and was tempted to knock the kitsune away from the girl so that he could take a closer look at her condition. He avoided that impulse by turning slightly away from her shaking figure.

Kurama sighed and shoved a hand through his tangled red hair and wished that he had the foresight to bring a brush with him on this mission. The red locks were pretty enough, but now they were getting in his way of examining their...companion? Prisoner? He wasn't sure...

"What now?" Yusuke asked, the worry in his voice obvious to those who knew him well enough to recognize the brusque patterns of speech he used when actually concerned.

"Is she gonna die?" Kuwabara asked quietly from over their shoulders. "She seems really pale."

"Maybe," Kurama sighed unhappily.

"Maybe we should take her back to Koenma's," Kuwabara said. "I bet that they could help her easily."

"Koenma won't let us return till we have some information on that energy first. He said it was too big to safely ignore. In fact, it was massive. A real threat to everyone and everything...if he's right, we can't afford to change our priorities. She will have to wait till we break this case..."

Kuwabara glowered at Yusuke and crossed his arms in anger at the callous words of the team leader. "How can you just let her lay there suffering, Urameshi? There has to be something-"

"He's right," Kurama interrupted the larger boy quickly. He did not appear happy about the decision and continued to caress the silky hair hanging in the girls eyes as he checked her wounds. He sighed again and pulled away from her to look at Kuwabara. "Our duties require that we may have to sacrifice her in order to save the lives of countless others...we do not know what we are facing out there. All we know is that it is powerful..."

"Hn," Hiei agreed again.

Kuwabara watched unhappily as the others made a half hearted effort to sooth the girl and their guilt. "It still isn't right," he muttered but moved away from her and the dark look of warning on Hiei's face.

Kurama stretched his sleep cramped muscles and sauntered over to the mouth of the cave as he tested his joints. Touching the frost tipped leaves of the plants he had sprouted the evening before, he convinced the growth to move aside to create a window to the white world outside. Another foot of snow had fallen and caused the drifts to rise to about mid thigh. But, the sky was dawning clear and bright, giving him hope that the weather was going to cooperate this day.

He caught Yusuke glowering over his shoulder into the untouched mounds of snow and ice. "It will be easier to travel and search today," the fox commented.

Yusuke just frowned and wrinkled his nose at the pretty picture sparkling innocently from the hole in the living door. "Damned cold, if you ask me," he pouted. "We'll all freeze to death before we ever find out what broke through the barrier. Well, everyone except for Hiei," he amended with little optimism.

"Hn," Hiei smirked and sucked the heat he had been expelling for the ningen's comfort back into his body with an abrupt move that mirrored the effects of stepping into a cold shower. He was careful to keep the area around him at a more tolerable level for the onna sprawled at his feet.

"Aagh! Damn it, Hiei!" Yusuke cursed and dove for his jacket.

Kurama just rubbed at his arms in a distracted manner before turning to the others. "We can't take her out there with out killing her for certain."

Hiei frowned at the narrow eyed stare that the kitsune was giving him and deliberately crossed his arms over his chest in a defensive stance. The fox was planning something again, and Hiei had a suspicion that he was not going to like the results of the kitsune's thoughts. "Hn."

Yusuke managed to pull the puffy coat over his bare skin and had zipped it up to cover his chin and mouth. "What do you suggest we do with her then? Let her freeze to death in here instead?" he asked, his voice was muffled through the thick fabric.

"Of course not," Kurama frowned at the younger boy. "Hiei should stay here with her."

"What?!" several voices yelled at once and Kurama turned his disapproving frown on all of them.

"She will not make it out there. We can't abandon our mission either. So, one of us needs to stay with her while the others search for the energy that broke the barrier." Kurama dared any of them to argue with his logic and just like clockwork, they all did.

"Why should Hiei be the one to stay?!" Yusuke whined. "He should be the one out in that frozen waste. It doesn't bother him..."

"Indeed," Hiei sneered and focused on the fox. "Why should I stay?"

"Yeah!" Kuwabara added.

"Can you keep her warm long enough to live?" Kurama demanded of the detective.

"Hiei is the girl's only hope for survival."

"I have no desire to babysit this ningen, Kurama." Hiei growled angrily.

Yusuke pinched his lips together but looked longingly at the heated section of the cavern where the girl was still laying. "But he's right," Yusuke said mournfully, " as usual. You have to stay here with her, Hiei."

Hiei growled louder and gripped his sword hilt with the force of his anger and glared at Yusuke and the fox calmly watching him.

"She needs you," Kuwabara agreed and warily watched the short demon losing his temper. Hiei was volatile and not known for his liking for humans..or anyone for that matter. He wasn't the safest member of the team to leave a weak woman with, but he was the best choice considering the temperature and location they were in. Still, Kuwabara did not trust the fire apparition.

Kurama zipped his own coat tighter and gestured toward the doorway. "The sun has risen, shall we go now?" he prodded the others.

Yusuke and Kuwabara nodded quickly and followed Kurama through the larger hole in the plants before the kitsune closed it back up. They were more then ready to escape from Hiei's enraged presence, even if it meant wandering back out into the cold wastelands of Northern Makai...and infinitely safer...

No sooner had the green shifting leaves closed over the portal, then they could hear the enraged curses of a very angry fire apparition lending them a will to move on with all haste... 

((This is a collaborated section!))

The unholy wailing abruptly stopped, leaving Kagome in a world of darkness and silence. She whimpered and bit her lip hard. The silence scared her more then the loud bawling of her little kitsune. It was as if... he had vanished. She was alone again in the dark.

"Shippo," she croaked with her voice broken by the sobs caught in her throat. She fell to her knees on a floor that did not exist and covered her ears to block out the silence that had replaced the previous cries.

Kagome dropped her arms and allowed her shoulders to droop as she continued to whimper the name of the child she had grown to love. "Shippo..."

The slight shifting in the air alerted her to the gentle breeze now playing with the ends of her hair and tingling the nerves across the back of one slender arm. Slowly, it danced its way through her dark, thick tresses and whispered softly into her ear. There was a familiar feeling mixed into that wind that teased her senses and turned her tear filled eyes hopefull. "Shippo?" she asked as she raised her face into that soft breath of air.

The invisible tendrils of energy tangled in the air abandoned her warm body to mold themselves before her very eyes into the form of the child she searched for with such love and devotion and she was confronted with the biggest cerulean blue eyes she had ever seen.

"Shippo!" she gasped happily and lunged toward the little fox cub standing silent and pale before her...Kagome was only inches away from having the young kit safe in her arms when he stepped back . She caught her self before she fell and panted in sudden fear. Was he rejecting her? Would Shippo turn from her now? She sucked in a breath as she looked at him carefully. His beautiful eyes, so full of life..were staring at her blankly. It was an expression she had only seen once before, on a face so similar to her own. She tried to grasp her trailing thoughts even as Shippo's innocent face twisted into a mask of bitterness and betrayal.

Two tiny white fangs peeked through his taut lips and his normally soft red gold tail was bristled out in fury and looked twice its normal size. His eyebrows furrowed in concentration and the once gentle breezes surrounding her body picked up speed and force, whipping their way through the battered remains of her clothing.

"Kagome," he answered her softly.

She reached for him again, intent on taking the child into her arms to hold tightly as the atmosphere stormed arround her. He avoided her touch again and Kagome cried out loud in pain. He was refusing her comfort...

"Kagome, why?" he demanded with a angry growl. "Why did you leave me?" 

Her fist clenched convulsively against his withdrawal. Her insides battled between her will to protect him and the force compelling her to attempt to understand his actions. She swallowed several times, begging her body to release her and allow her to make some form of reassurance or comfort to the small child before her. His eyes were wide and pleading even as he bared his fangs at her. She bit into her already bruised and bloodied lip before she tried to make him understand. "Shippo I-"

The kit cut her off with a wild yell. "YOU LEFT! YOU LEFT WHEN YOU PROMISED! YOU PROMISED! HOW COULD YOU?" Shippo's small body shook with the force of his anger and the twisting winds responded to his fury.

She attempted to shield her eyes from the howling winds as they ripped desperately against her battered remains, and yet through the storm, his high pitched screams still rang clearly in her ears. Once again, her hand reached out to offer some form of relief for the small kitsune cub. "Shippo, I had to!" she cried and begged for the child to offer her some sort of relief, or forgiveness.

Shippo's tiny fists waved wildly in the air as he accused her of abandoning him. "You left," he finally whispered as the anger died away.

He looked at her with his eyes returning back to that pain filled blue of despair that ate at her heart. Her hand paused only a breath away from his skin and began shaking violently as she willed it to move. Behind him, Kagome could see the wind still writhing in tormented circles.

Yet, even as the storm dissipated, her feeling that things were only getting worse increased. The blurred stains of color that still cycled constantly in the background reminded her that this was no more then a dream world and she was caught in the middle of the vortex of her own guilt.

Those pockets of color used her fear and pain as a source of power to take shape and quickly condensed into the gruesome visages of monsters that she would never forget. Fearfully she glared at the circle of monsters that had appeared just out of reach of her now limited senses. With her powers drained and restricted as they were now, she could feel only the barest hints of Youki around her. Suddenly, the grinning faces began laughing and snarling in a threatening manner as their circle tightened. The terrorized cries of her fox kit suddenly began haunting her mind again and the wailing shrieked through her head. She quickly looked back down at Shippo only to find that he wasn't there anymore. Her kit was gone.

Remaining traces of the wind faded into nothing as the memories stirred in her mind, taking the grinning faces of the devils with it. Once again...she was alone.

"No," she moaned. "Not again. I can't..." she sobbed. "No! NOOOO!" 

Kagome felt the weight of the emptiness press even heavier upon her then the tortured screams of her kit had and shrank into her self.

((End of collaborated section!))

Hiei kicked a the unyielding green foliage with a black boot and scoffed as the plants simply regrew every time that his foot went through them. "Damn you, Kurama!" he raged and kicked again at the living door.

Hiei even went so far as to take several feral swipes at the plants with his sword before slumping angrily to the floor to sulk. He glared with his crimson eyes at the place that the others had just left through and felt his anger only growing for the humiliation of being left here to watch a dying ningen female.

It seemed that he was always being left behind, tossed aside, forgotten, used and discarded. His menacing growl grew louder as he imagined setting those pretty red locks of kitsune hair on fire.

His loud swearing and stomping around finally agitated the girl enough for her to move and groan in protest. When she got his attention with her weak struggles, he moved to her side and glared at her with his hands on his hips. "This is all your fault," he informed her with a angry scowl.

He was surprised to see her head loll toward the sound of his voice and shocked to see the lids of her eyes flutter gently as she worked at finding the strength to face that angry voice. She opened her eyes slowly until they were wide in the dim light.

Hiei felt all the anger and frustration melt away in moments as he stared at the pale face etched in lines of sadness. There was only one thought that made any sense to him as he looked at her. _Her eyes are blue..._


	5. Chapter 5

Since it took so long to update last time, I decided to put this chapter out ahead of schedule and give you guys a bit of a hint as to events to come! That and this one was entirely mine from start to finish so Yabou got a short break, though I intend to crack my whip and put her back to work very soon! (Not really .) Enjoy! 

Sylvannastar 

Chapter 5

888888888888888888888888

Kuwabara was shoved to the front of the line again so that his weight and height could be put to use bulldozing through the ice crusted snow drifts. He squinted around him as he went, trying to see through the glare of the sun reflecting off from the crystals surrounding them. "Damn, it's bright out here," he muttered and pushed on. "Where are we going, anyway?"

Kurama stopped and sighed. They had been walking for about half an hour and had managed to go no further then a mile. The snow was weighty and thick. The depth of the banks and drifts gave them little compensation for their efforts. That, and they still had no idea where the were going or what they were looking for. "That way," he finally replied and pointed in some random direction.

"This is stupid," Yusuke snorted through the layers of his mittens and hands he had coving his mouth. "That fucking toddler doesn't know shit. I bet he sitting in his nice toasty office watching us on his big screen and laughing his ass off." He scowled angrily at the line they had shoved through the snow that led back to the cave and huffed in annoyance. "This sucks."

"Yeah," Kuwabara agreed and glared down at the snow clumping into balls of ice on his large mittens. "Besides, I don't like leaving that girl with Hiei. What if he hurt her?"

The other two looked startled and glanced at each other before turning to the taller boy. "Kuwabara, you don't really believe that Hiei would ever hurt her, do you? He has been a member of this team from the beginning...surely you don't doubt him that much..." Kurama hesitated to assume. He knew that Hiei and Kuwabara had never had a good relationship, and most of the sparing between the two he had thought to be no more than that of good natured rivalry.

Kuwabara frowned angrily and turned his glare on the startled kitsune. "I would not put anything past that little shit," he growled.

"Aw, you're just pissed off because he told you to stay away from Yukina. Ever since you found out they were related, you've been looking for reason to hate him," Yusuke sighed and rolled his eyes heavenward.

Kuwabara snorted and rubbed the crusted snow off of his coat and ignored the mocking glance Yusuke was giving him. "That is not true," he said defensively. "I never liked that guy, related to my love or not. There is just something about him that bothers me. Always has...I just don't trust him."

"May I inquire as to why?" Kurama asked in a voice slightly harder and less forgiving then usual.

Both humans took careful note of the fox spirit's protective tone and Kuwabara thought hard about how to answer that question before he opened his mouth. He finally shrugged and pointed at the cave in the distance for emphasis, "He is dangerous. More so then you even, Kurama, though you are also a demon and all." He watched a red eyebrow twitch in anger once before hurrying on. "Hiei is just so...unstable. I can never tell what will piss him off or what will amuse him...sometimes both."

"That is true," Yusuke frowned in thought. "Hiei is hard to predict."

"He is that way on purpose," Kurama pointed out.

"I know!" Kuwabara exclaimed. "That is just it. _Why_ is he that way? Especially with us. We are supposed to be a team and we know hardly anything about him."

Kurama fought the instinct to protect the fire apparition and seriously considered the other's words. It was true that they knew little about the half ice demon, and he knew more then they did and was still in the dark about most of Hiei's past. He couldn't expect the two humans in front of him to fully understand the Jaganashi when he couldn't either. "Hiei has...a harsh past." Kurama managed to inform them. "But I don't believe that he would hurt the girl." Kurama tried to sound firm and convinced but a doubt was starting to form in his mind as well. What did they really know about the fire demon? What was truth and what was merely perception? How much had Hiei really changed over their years together as a team? Kurama wasn't sure.

He glanced up when Kuwabara spoke again. "It isn't even that I don't like him, I just can't trust him. He has too many secrets."

Secrets...yes, the fire apparition had many of those, and each one darker then the last...what was their companion really like under that cool exterior? Did he feel anything at all other then the anger that never seemed to leave? _Could _they trust him? _Should _they? After all, what reasons had he ever given them to do so? Hiei was an enigma if ever there was one. Who knew what he was thinking or feeling? Who really knew him? Did anyone? Did the fire apparition even know himself?...

888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888

Hiei found that he had lost his anger in a matter of moments. It had simply melted away with one look from this pale woman's eyes. He dropped to his knees beside her when he realized the she was staring more through him, then at him. He could see the burn of the fever in her reddened cheeks and glazed eyes...those eyes...so unexpected...the blue of her eyes was different from any other ningen he had ever seen. They were a gentle blue with a sheen of grey that misted over them, muting their color until they resembled an uncut gem, still raw and untampered by living hands.

He looked down to find the girl struggling to focus on him in the gloom. Her eyes moved over his face. He did not interfere as she struggled to sit up and move closer to him. Watching her with an intensity he was known for, she managed to get to her hands and knees with her injured arm held tightly to her chest. One fist was still clutching the battered sword and she dropped the broken bow as if the death grip she had held on with for so long didn't matter. She tipped over as soon as she managed to reach a semi-sitting position and fell into his lap. He caught her slight form and stared at her with confusion when she immediately relaxed in his hold.

She parted her lips and attempted to speak, her first conscious sound breaking in her throat. She swallowed and tried again. "Are you my...angel?" she whispered and raised one weak hand to gently touch his face. Her fingers carefully traced the line of his jaw and stopped at the point of his chin. With exaggerated caution, she followed with her fingers, the path of her eyes and touched his mouth. The soft whisper of breath across the back of her fingers was a detail she magnified in her feverish state.

Hiei was still staring with widened eyes at the woman curled trustingly in his arms and felt a strange tightening in his gut when she grimaced slightly with pain. She seemed even more fragile now that he could see the hurt and sadness reflected in her eyes. He wasn't sure why, but he _wanted _her to live. She was so broken...but still fighting. He could respect that. He could understand that. More so then the others, Hiei could recognize the soul of a fighter in the woman shivering against him. He felt his aura automatically flare in response to her need. He almost wished that he could have been there to prevent this from happening to her...he felt protective...

The sensation was...

"I'm no angel," his lips moved under her fingertips.

"No," she agreed. A frown briefly marred the delicate lines of her face. "You are too..."

He waited for her to say it. _Evil. Bad. Rotten. Forbidden. Dark..._He knew what he was and made no effort to apologize for it.__

"...alive," she finished. "Angels don't carry mortal sorrow...do they?" she asked this as if she still thought him some heavenly guardian.

"I wouldn't know."

She let her hand fall back to his chest and rested her cheek next to it. The darkness was calling her, its emptiness providing an escape from her tortured thoughts. "I thought...hell...was supposed to...burn..."

He waited until she was sleeping again before he stretched her back out on the rocky ground. He stared hard at the limp figure with just a hint of awe flickering in his eyes. She had consciously touched him...touched him and had not recoiled. He reached up and pressed a hand to his lips where she had rested her fingers, still feeling that unfamiliar tingle on his skin. Then he remembered who and what he was, and frowned at himself. His soul was on fire...the girl had unbalanced his carefully controlled emotions with just a look and a simple brush of her fingers. He grit his teeth as he tried to regain that precious control before everything burst into flames...remembering her last words, he clenched his fists at his sides and whispered, "It does," and turned all his focus inward before he lost control of his raging powers.

His precious balance was all that held him together. He couldn't let himself loose with out breaking several of the vows he had made to himself over the long years. There was just too much at stake now. And too many secrets that would destroy him if they were ever brought to light...

888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888

Kurama strengthened his resolve and firmed his response when next he spoke to the two human waiting on him. "Hiei would not hurt her." Kurama had battled the idea around in silence for a good while as they walked and decided to trust his instincts. "Hiei may have done some awful things in his past, but no more then I. He has become a much better person since he came to the Ningenkai. He has done nothing to warrant our disrespect or a lack of trust in his actions. He has acted with nothing but honor since he became a member of our team."

Yusuke and Kuwabara stopped dumb in the frozen track and turned around to face the serious green eyes watching their reactions intensely.

"Wha?" Yusuke wrinkled his nose. "You still thinkin' bout that?"

Kurama tilted his head to the side and hid the perplexed feeling he felt when dealing with this human's ability to let things roll off his shoulders as if they never mattered. Kawabara on the other hand was frowning again. Kurama focused mainly on him and tensed in anticipation for a fight with the stubborn human, short though it would be.

"Maybe," the larger boy finally sighed. "I hope so...for her sake and ours."

Kurama was startled by Kuwabara's quiet response. He had expected his words to provoke the human into defending his previous words and insults, but he was instead confronted with discouraged agreement. It was as if Kuwabara simply had little belief that it was true, but he hoped that it was. Kurama couldn't let his own defensive anger crush the naive human's small faith in his teammates and had to let the subject go with difficulty.

"What about the girl?" Yusuke asked, effectively turned their attention to what was interesting him the most.

"What about her?" Kuwabara tilted his head to the side until he resembled a giant lost puppy.

Kurama simply waited for Yusuke to ask what he really wanted to know before wasting his breath questioning him.

"Well, where could she have come from?" he began.

"I thought you guys said she was kidnaped by that demon that came through the barrier and then left to die."

"That was a theory, Kuwabara." Kurama answered. "We are certain of nothing at this point."

"So what other explanations are there?" Yusuke demanded. "One, she was dragged here by a demon. Two...?"

"She is the one that opened the barrier," Kuwabara offered. The other two rolled their eyes and ignored that suggestion.

"Two...?" Yusuke prompted again.

"Maybe it wasn't someone at all," Kuwabara persisted. "What if it was something like the magic stuff that Koenma has in his vault." He frowned darkly at the two teammates that were quite efficiently ignoring him altogether. He pursed his lips in annoyance.

"Twooooo...?" Yusuke sang in a high pitched tone meant to annoy the others.

"Maybe whatever did open the barrier didn't come through it at all. They may have just pushed her through it for some reason." No one could say that he wasn't persistent. 

"Twoo-ooo-ooo?" Yusuke added a few dance steps to his howling and playfully bumped into Kuwabara several times in hopes of starting a fight.

"Maybe she is really some all powerful demon that is only trying to fool us into believing she's weak so that she can drain us of our power, learn our secrets and take over the world?"

Yusuke stopped howling and stared at Kuwabara with his brown eyes suddenly serious. "Damn, an we left Hiei alone with her too!" Then he burst into laughter and hung on the larger boy's shoulder to hold himself up.

Kurama snorted at the two humans and tried to think it through. She obviously had come through the barrier. Alone? Perhaps...but not likely. The weapons? Obviously belonging to whoever did drag her down into the Makai from the Ningenkai. Humans did not run around with swords and bows anymore...not that he had seen anyway. "It might not matter," he finally replied. "It is entirely possible that she will not live long enough to answer any of our questions."

Yusuke grunted and turned serious as he thought back on the woman sleeping fretfully in the cave behind them. "That is the other thing that bothers me. Those wounds..." he trailed off.

Kuwabara narrowed his eyes at the spirit detective and used the pause in the conversation to stomp his feet to keep his blood flowing. "What are you getting at?"

"Those wounds she had...what kind of demon makes those kinds of wounds? If we can figure that out, we would have a better chance of identifying and catching the demon that brought her here." Yusuke plucked at the scarf covering half his face before turning his golden brown gaze at Kurama. "Did you recognize anything? A trace of Youki that we may have missed? A scent? Anything?"

Kurama concentrated hard on the vivid memory he had in his head. His near perfect recall was a carryover gift from Youko's past life and nearly nothing ever managed to slip past the observant fox's senses. "No, nothing," he finally replied.

"What about the girl herself? Anything weird?" Yusuke persisted.

Kurama hesitated longer here and wondered if her general lack of energy counted as strange. "Perhaps," he frowned and considered all he had ever heard about demons that consumed energy from the living. That would account for her condition, the demon's desire to get through the barrier to find a more covenant food source, and their lack of success finding a trace of the demon's passing. If it ate excess energy, there would be little trail to follow, if any at all...

"Oh come on, Urameshi!" Kuwabara sniggered. "That girl is completely harmless. She is hardly alive, much less having any abilities like us," he boasted.

Yusuke snorted again and rubbed at his numb nose with the back of one hand just to be sure that it was still there. "Keh! Whatever," he said.

888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888

Hiei struggled for some time to contain the roiling powers threatening to spill from him. When he was convinced that he had every measure of control once again in place, he went back to glaring at the strange ningen and thinking about her uncanny effect on him. He watched her in complete silence for some time before he allowed himself to lean over her still figure.

The dreams seemed to have stopped and she was laying curled quite close to his legs again even though he had placed her several feet away from him. He had been torn between amusement and perplexity as she had wriggled her way back to him until she was resting against his body again. The warmth of his body next to her seemed to calm her and he was shocked to see a slight smile pull at her mouth as she slept on, oblivious to her proximity to the youkai.

Hiei tilted his head to the side and contemplated her pale face and the contented look she held. He seriously considered shoving her away form him and in the same heartbeat took a small amount of pleasure in the contact. Uncertainty plagued the normally indifferent demon as he tried to find some sort of solid ground in the enigma this one ningen woman had cast around herself. He felt and saw her reach out with her one free hand to touch his leg right below the knee and she curled her fingers into the dark cloth of his pants.

He wrinkled his nose at the oblivious form and huffed uncomfortably. In the end, he chose not to move away, but resumed his fascinated studying of the strange woman. He noticed her other arm was placed on her chest with her fist tucked casually under her chin. The sword was still clutched in those slender fingers and Hiei gave into his curiosity. He reached confidently out to grasp the hilt of the battered katana and remove the girl's grip from the weapon. After all, just how attached to that thing could she possibly be?

888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888

"Uh, guys, do you feel that?" Kuwabara blurted right before he was thrown off his feet and into a snow drift. 

"Shit!" Yusuke shouted and struggled to keep his feet as he felt a surge of unfamiliar energy encircle them.

A silent tremor shifted the ground under their feet just enough to make the snow appear to be rolling in a giant wave. On the heals of that unnatural motion a great flash of light streaked towards them. They all ducked away from the blinding energy and dodge out of the way as it flew past them and sizzled off into the distance. In its wake, a bare trail of smoking ground led the detectives eyes through the snow and into the distance.

"What the hell?!" Yusuke stared wide eyed at the hard ground beneath his booted feet. "Where the fuck did that come from!?"

They all turned as one and followed the melted path right up to the mouth of a familiar cave. They all gaped for a moment in disbelief before the tense silence was fractured by Kurama's choked gasp. "Hiei!" he cried out in concern and launched himself down the strange road bereft of snow and ice, using what Youkai speed he would muster in his flight back to his friend and the suddenly ominous stranger that he had left him with. He could only hope that the smaller youkai was safe....


	6. Chapter 6

giggles inspiration hit and I am on a role! However, this is so not going in the direction I had planned out! Some serious remodeling on future chapters may be in order! And I will be gone on vacation as of next monday for about TWO weeks. I hope to do some writing while I am away, but no promises.... I really appreciate the encouragement and all the nice reviews! It always inspires me when people make suggestions that get me thinking! I may have one more chapter out before I leave but it depends on how the next chapter of The Strongest Ties works out...

One other thing, those of you waiting to find out what happened to Kagome...It will be a LONG LONG time before that is revealed. Kagome is a mystery to the tentais and in many ways, to the readers...you learn about her and what happened as they do....so, frustrating as it may be, that is the way this fic is going to develope...so, enjoy!

Sylvannastar

Chapter 6

888888888888888888888888

Kagome grimaced as she felt herself being pulled from the first peaceful sleep she had since falling into this miserable place. She wasn't certain what was disturbing her, but she felt a need to wake up and confront...something. There was a thrill of power snaking across her spine and sending tremors through out her body. A warning. A threat. And all from a source outside of the shield wrapped tightly around her own aura.

She snapped her eyed open as soon as she felt a familiar pulse of energy thrum through her body. Her smoky eyes met and caught a slightly familiar set of burning eyes that had only a fraction of a moment to widen in shocked surprise before the sword under his hands reacted. Kagome found herself blinded and she flinched at the release of youki that rebounded several times around the cave that she could see surrounding her, before it found release through the mouth of the cavern. She was unable to contain her gasp and instantly regretted the action as the dust and debris shaken from the walls and ceiling choked the air. Her hacking cough bent her body double as her wounds were forced to endure her pain filled breathing and the tensing of injured muscles.

Kagome cleared her vision enough to reduce the dark haze into a grey screen of dust and the blurred edges of jagged rocks. Across from her, pressed against the cavern wall, was the twisted form of a man that she seemed to recognize. She shook her head to clear the unearthly buzzing that was ringing in her ears. Confusion reigned in her mind as she tried unsuccessfully to identify her surroundings and the dark haired man slumped unconscious against the wall. Her fever raged under her flushed skin as she shook her head repeatedly and forced herself to try to concentrate.

"Who?.." she clenched her eyes shut as another cough seized her lungs and made her feel as if she had swallowed glass. She centered her blurred vision on the body flung, what seemed to be to her slurred thoughts, such a great distance away. She had a vague recollection of a young man wrapping her in comforting and strangely protective energy and that his presence had banished the dark nightmares for a short time. She remembered that she was supposed to be in hell. "Great," she hissed through her teeth. "I think Tetsuseiga just fried my guardian angel..." She twisted her swollen mouth into a parody of a wry grin and wheezed out a weak chuckle that held no humor. "Figures...."

Kagome didn't even try to reason out why the sword would attack an angel and simply accepted it as one of those things. Magic spells and barriers were picky about how they interpreted what was permitted and what wasn't and Tetsuseiga and had already made of point of being difficult about choosing its owner. Even then, it still was a bit erratic in its master's hands... claws... whatever. She briefly wondered if a half angel could touch it. After all if there were half demons, why not half angels? She frowned when she vaguely recalled a short conversation in which her companion had denied his obvious role. Who else would you find in hell but spirits and devils and angels? And he was definitely not evil. She could sense it. She shrugged it off then she sneered at her own irrelevant idea and tried to remember what had sent her thoughts spinning in that direction. A quick glance around served to remind her of her position and the uncomfortable sprawl of the man that had been with her when she first awoke.

She hung her head in typical defeated motion before she worked up the courage to move again. The man was a stranger, she knew that. But he was also familiar on a whole other level. She could FEEL that she knew him even if her mind didn't recognize him. Her eyes crossed uncomfortably as she attempted to bring his face into focus. She failed, but was comforted by the faint outline of his wings spread behind him. The soft waves of energy let her know that he was still alive and she was relieved to know she hadn't involuntarily killed the poor guy. I mean seriously, if he had been sent to watch over her, he had his job cut out for him as it is...Kagome grimaced and decided that despite her own hurt, she had to return the gesture and take care of him as well. As much as she could anyway. Besides, she _wanted _to help him.

She galanty fought the spasms of pain twisting knots into her abused body and shoved herself onto her elbows so that she could squint at the fallen figure without her face pressed against the gritty floor of the cave. It took more effort then she had estimated to turn herself over and get her scraped knees under her. Kagome panted through the newest wave of pain but refused to wait until it passed before attempting to crawl toward the only other person in this gloomy hole.

The closer she got to him, the more she couldn't shake the feeling that he was hurt more then she had first thought. The thought didn't surprise her that much considering the amount of power that had just knocked him into the rock wall. He still had not moved and she was not in any condition to be nursing anyone herself. She clenched her teeth together and put some of her weight on her injured arm since the other fist was still clutching the sword in an unbreakable grip.

She made it across the ragged floor till she was only feet away from her fallen angel when a new burst of energy came speeding in her direction. She glared at the mouth of the tunnel and pushed herself to her knees in an attempt to face the danger she could feel coming. She could feel several aura's with their energy levels jumping to threatening heights. With a burst of adrenalin, Kagome ignored the screaming of her body and placed herself between danger and her silent companion. She felt the swelling over one eye start to throb as her heart rate increased and she cursed her condition and everything that had driven her to this point. She knew she wasn't very threatening, but just maybe, she could intimidate whatever was coming long enough for the man at her back to recover. With her resolve focused on protecting the dark haired figure behind her, she faced the opening with a look of fierce determination on her torn features. 

888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888

Kurama ignored the boulders that had fallen into the path and simply leapt over the rubble as he ran. The closer he got to the mouth of the cavern, the greater the destruction seemed to be. He had a sick feeling in his gut that something was terribly wrong and out of place. He jumped over the next rock without slowing and felt Yusuke power up behind him in an effort to keep up.

Yusuke's demon side quickly took over his weaker human blood and the second wave of youki spread before them. Kurama knew that any chance that the enemy did not know they were coming was spoiled the moment that his hair had started to silver at the roots. Yusuke's boost of power was the first and the last warning to whatever was waiting for them inside that cave. If Hiei was hurt, Kurama had no intentions of giving mercy to his attacker. Just as suddenly as the blast had appeared, the strange youki was now gone. And Hiei's energy was weaker then normal.

"What was that?" Yusuke yelled from beside him.

Kurama flashed a fang at the other man and spat out, "I don't know. But Hiei is in there. I won't lose another partner," he growled.

Yusuke nodded his head sharply in understanding and sprinted that last little distance right behind the silver fox. He dashed through the remains of the hole in the cliff that they had spent the night in and saw a whole new cavern.

Kurama ignored his surroundings and immediately sought out Hiei and found him tucked behind the alert and tense figure of the girl they had rescued not twenty four hours before. She was leaning slightly on her injured side, but had her hands tightly around that damn sword as is she was preparing to draw it. Just as their eyes met, a soft sound behind her back made the girl flick her eyes away. He snarled and moved before she could even focus on his face and threw her several feet away with one off-hand push.

Kagome found herself sprawled on her side and gasping for air as the demon knocked the wind out of her abused lungs. She raised her head and hissed at the stranger touching the man she had already failed to protect. She sobbed lightly and tried desperately to focus her powers and rescue her new friend but was unable to do more then watch as the tall demon pounced on her angel. All her efforts met with that same wall of protection that sealed her powers inside. As another small sound tickled her ears, she realized that the man was waking up.

Hiei managed to raise his hands so that he could cradle his aching head. "Kuso," he hissed between clenched teeth. He forced his crimson eyes open and found two concerned golden eyes that flickered green several time before crinkling up in a smile of relief. "Hn," Hiei shook his head slowly to test the extent of his injuries. He was slightly burnt and charred across his chest and there would be several bruises decorating his flesh until his more potent demon healing kicked in, but there was no serious injury to be concerned about. He had only gotten a small amount of backlash from the energy and Hiei had been able to tell that he had been deliberately warned...not killed. He frowned up at the hovering fox when he heard the soft voice of the girl gasping something at them.

"Get away," she panted, "from him!" Kagome pressed the limits of her strength and got to her knees again before she felt herself being lifted off the ground until her toes dangled inches off the floor.

His ruby eyes widened as Yusuke leapt on her and dragged the injured girl to her feet and shake her violently. "Yusuke," he hissed and sat up so abruptly that his head spun and throbbed and he had to rely on Kurama's strength to hold him up momentarily. 

Kagome found herself in the grip of a stranger with livid honey colored eyes and a snarl that revealed two pointed fangs that were currently barred at her. She was gripped tightly around both upper arms and hauled off her feet until she was dangling painfully from the hold of a vicious looking man surrounded by raging energy. Kagome screamed in pain and tried to release her powers to make the stranger release his biting hold on her and defend herself from the creature.

"What did you do to him!?" the man shook her angrily.

Kagome felt her head snap back and forth but couldn't find the strength to break his hold. She smacked him across the back with the sheathed katana several times in a useless attempt to give him a fight. He released her good arm and slapped her hard across her injured cheek. Kagome felt a shock wave of pain explode in her mind and she saw bright circles of light blinking on the edges of her vision. Her already split lip ripped open again along with the two vertical scratches decorating her left cheek. Her blood was slick and warm against her skin and she could taste the bitter sweet coppery taste of it in her mouth. Kagome had just enough time left in her conscious state to breath deep and spit in the face of her attacker before her eyes rolled back in her head and she went limp. 

"Yusuke!" Hiei finally managed to say loud enough to catch the other man's attention. "Let her go." He glared at the spirit detective and shoved Kurama away from him so that he could get to his feet. Hiei pulled himself up and wavered slightly before he could catch his balance. Kurama instantly had a hand at his shoulder, but Hiei shrugged it off with another snarl.

Yusuke let her drop to the floor with out even trying to keep her from further injury and the back of her head met with the rough stone of the cave with a solid thud. Yusuke ignored the girl at his feet and studied the fire demon carefully. "You okay, Hiei?"

"Hn." Hiei blinked several times but didn't say more. He glared at everything for several moments before his scowl fell on the unconscious woman again. That girl had caused him nothing but trouble and a splitting head ache since they had picked her up out of the snow. But somehow, seeing her facing off against Yusuke and losing had made him want to run the tentai through with his sword. He glared for several silent moments at the still figure and struggled against the temptation to check her and make sure that Yusuke hadn't caused her any more damage. Instead, he turned his anger on the detective himself.

Yusuke jerked back at the murderous look in Hiei's eyes and stared in wide eyed surprise as the jagonashi slowly advanced several paces in his direction. "What?!" he shouted and watched carefully as Hiei narrowed those blood colored eyes and developed a slight twitch."What did she do to you?" Yusuke frowned and shoved his hand through his hair in a nervous gesture. When his fingers got tangled in the now long locks, he sighed and cursed at the dark strands.

"She did not do anything," Hiei sneered at the cocky detective. "It was the sword."

"The sword?" He gaped. "That rusted old thing?!"

"Hn." Hiei agreed and stalked closer.

"Are you certain, Hiei?" Kurama asked, now looking at the girl with an intrigued expression.

Yusuke got very still and then crouched down beside her crumpled figure and peered carefully at her. Feeling slightly guilty, Yusuke reached out to turn her head to that he could see just how badly he may have hurt her. Before his fingers came in contact with the girl, Hiei was standing between them.

"You have done enough," Hiei said softly.

Yusuke winced but pulled his hand away. "I thought she hurt you," Yusuke said in an attempt to defend himself.

"You did not stop to be certain," Kurama pointed out form behind them. Hiei watched as Yusuke winced when that remark hit home. The silver fox confidently crossed his arms over his chest and proceeded to lecture the cringing detective in front of them. "Blindly attacking an unknown opponent will only result in unnecessary injury. In this case, hers."

Yusuke grimaced again and rubbed at the back of his head. "Yeah, I know," he admitted.

"In fact," Kurama tipped his head to the side and watched mournfully as his transformation began to wear off and his tail started to shorten. "If I saw things correctly, she was attempting to defend our friend."

Hiei widened his eyes in surprise and stared at the slowly changing fox. Defending him? The idea was absurd and entirely new to the fire demon. That the injured woman would place herself in danger for a youkai that she didn't even know was too perplexing of a thought that went against all the rules of self preservation that he knew. He turned his back on the others and took to staring at her again. "Why?" he asked more to himself then the others but Kurama moved beside him and answered.

"Perhaps she simply saw us as a threat...was she awake before this?" he asked and crouched down to tend to the seeping wounds on her arms and face.

"A bit," he admitted and shifted to the left to keep himself between Yusuke and the strange human with a unconscious move.

"Did she say anything? Her name? Where she came from?" Yusuke huffed in annoyance when Hiei continued to block him from the girl.

"No." Hiei answered shortly and scowled. He had no desire to tell them that she had proclaimed him as her angel and then recognized the pain in his soul as a mirror of her own experience.

"Did she do anything?" Yusuke persisted and tried again to get around the temperamental Jaganashi.

"No," Hiei answered tonelessly.

"Well, she must have done _something," _Yusuke said sulkily. "She still has the sword in her hands so I can only assume that she did something to attack you with it."

"She did not do it," Hiei said again.

"What? The sword did it on its own?" Yusuke frowned and sat back on his heals.

"Hn."

"We can't let her keep it," Kurama agreed and moved to stand beside the crouching team leader.

Hiei tilted his head to one side and watched the other two without comment. When transformed, they both held a presence far different form their normal forms and Hiei took in the changes with wary eyes. He relaxed only when Yusuke moved back a bit and gave him enough space to turn around and glare down on the pale features of the girl once more. "Hn." 

That blade was dangerous. Where it came from and how extensive its powers could prove to be was unknown. How the human had managed to get her hands on such a demon blade was just another mystery. Hiei was cautious about approaching the battered metal again, but the others were right. It did not belong in the human woman's grasp. With narrowed eyes and the slightest twitch of his lips, Hiei stepped aside. "Then I suggest one of you try to take it from her," he said.

8888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888

((co-authored section))

Kagome scowled in anger at the empty swirl of colors that again surrounded her and kicked her feet at the emptiness. If only there were something! Anything! She needed some sort of stability to keep her sane...she fell to her knees again and bowed her head. "A dream," she sobbed. "Its just a dream...a memory..." She sat there thinking about the strangers she had seen and tried to convince herself that it was all a part of her feverish imagination. The sword didn't really just attack...she didn't really just get shaken like a rag doll by some strange youkai...she looked up as the landscape around her shifted into the features of a time and place she didn't want to remember as another memory teased through her senses. "Oh," she whispered brokenly, "not this..please..." She raised her eyes and gave in to the memory determined to be replayed and sagged in defeat. She let the magic of her memory suck her in. She could not escape her role in past events...or the repercussions. And her mind only seemed to offer her the torture of reenacting what had already been...

Kagome clenched her fingers into fists at her sides. The insistent throbbing of her accelerated heart beat and the pulse of the uncontrolled youki from several meters in front of her were matched perfectly. Her mind was reeling with the constant procession of terrifying possibilities linked to the unexpected turn of events playing out before her eyes. Her eyes rested in disbelief on the rusted metal gleaming in the fading light of the blood colored sunset. The wink of light on the seemingly innocent blade snapped her back to reality. Slowly, she raised her panic stricken eyes to meet the slightly amused but wild gaze of the blade's owner.

Her eyes fell under that unnerving stare and she found herself looking once again at the useless sword. She had little time. A decision had to be reached... and fast...

Kagome licked her lips once and tried to coax her petrified muscles into responding. With the soft words of a quick pray on her lips, Kagome moved. Though her heart was willing, her feet were slow and she stumbled to the ground in a hurried rush. Her head shot back up to take in the slight movement of the figure in red towering over her. There he still stood, a picture of perfected malicious arrogance and now, a smirk twisted his lips in the parody of a true smile.

Kagome swallowed hard and turned quickly to continue on her newly established mission. Dirtied hands groped blindly through the blood-slicked grass as she fought to regain her composure. She focused on nothing but the rusted katana with its point in the dirt. She could afford no distraction nor think of anything other then getting her hands on that lonely piece of metal.

It called to her to return it to its rightful place in the grip of her best friend. The same friend whose glare was currently burning holes in the back of her head. Kagome gasped and scrabbled forward on her hands and knees, hoping for nothing but enough time to reach the tarnished scrap of magic and bone resting so casually in the earth. The rustle of cloth and the whip of wind made her belly flop to the hard packed ground in fear, but instead of an attack, she found the amused stare of the transformed Inuyasha watching her from the other side of the sword.

Gulping loudly, Kagome say up slowly and climbed to her feet. She never once took her eyes away from the burning stare of her companion. She saw the tightening of his mouth where blood from his own fangs had cut into the tender flesh. Where the hanyou's soft gold eyes usually were, now twin pools of hatred and malice made her gut clench.

She had to reach that forgotten weapon before he could do something that he would forever regret. Flicking her eyes back down to the blade and back several time, she weighed her chances of success and knew that odds were definitely stacked against her.

Lazily he taunted er. Rolling each individual joint in his arms and legs, all the while retaining the evil gleam in his eyes that dared her and threatened punishment is she so much as took one step closer to the restricting sword. Inuyasha slowly spread his legs apart and lowered his body into a crouch. She could tell that he was waiting for her to run. He wanted her to run...

But she didn't. Kagome tried to keep one eye on the sword resting so innocently between their motionless bodies, but she now caught so completely in the spell of watching her own death approach. A flash of red and white stalked along the fringes of her vision where she dared not look, not when the greatest threat was standing right in front of her. The steady swishes of Hiraikotsu could be heard in accordance with the screams of an angry taijiya's attempts to defend those closest to her.

Kagome saw the hanyou's eyes move to pace along with the other figure and took her chance. She dove forward with outstretched fingers and whispered frantically, "This is my only shot...Inuyasha, please hold on!"

His body tensed slightly before he catapulted into the air above her, his body twisting in ways that she knew her own frail human form could never come close to mimicking. She was inches away from her goal when a shriek erupted from her bleeding lips and her body was forced harshly to the ground. Claws roughly pierced through tattered uniform and he dug his talons cruelly into the front of her shoulders where he had his hands poised halfway between her shoulder and her neck. He pulled her back and twisted her around so that he could stare his prey directly in the eyes. Blue grey clashed violently with red and blue, and she felt the grind of his nails on her bones as he dug his fingers in deeper to her fragile skin. He laughed when he ripped his claws from her flesh and she cried out.

Kagome's heart pounded loudly in her ears and her mind raced to find some alternative to what seemed to be her inevitable and rather gruesome death. She faced him with every bit of courage that she possessed. _I will not die by your hands, Inuyasha, _she thought_. I won't let you live with that regret all over again..._

Dangerously, he held his claws only a whisper away from the edge of her face. "Move," he ordered her with a lethal sneer in his voice. A single drop of her own blood fell from his coated fingers and onto the smooth skin of her cheek.

With a weak cry, she tilted her head away in an attempt to escape the reminder of her injury at his hands. As soon as her plea ripped from her lips, his hands assaulted her, ripping twin slices across the empty space of that same cheek. Blood began slowly oozing from the scratches and fell unheaded to the dirt under their feet. He tossed her down, fulling intending to pounce again, but Kagome hit the ground and rolled...right into the only thing that could save her now. In one fluid move, she clenched her fingers around the hilt of the sleeping blade just as the weight of the dog demon landed on her back....Then, she felt the blade pulse.....and the memory faded. She was once again wrapped in warmth and comfort. Thankfully, she left herself drift with that current and did not even miss the weight of the katana she given so much to attain... 

((end of co-authored section))

888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888

Yusuke confidently edged closer to the girl and reached out a hand. He managed to get within inches of the beat up old blade when it shot out several warning sparks of energy at his outstretched fingers. Yusuke jerked back and frowned a the blade that went quiet again when he removed his hand from its proximity. "Shit," he muttered and rubbed the light sting that set into his knuckles. "I didn't even touch it yet."

"I touched it before," Kurama reminded them and simply reached out to grasp the hilt of the blade as he had done when they had first found her. Once again, the spirit detectives watched as the sword came to life and sizzled its warning into their flesh with tiny streams of concentrated youki. The silver fox frowned and slowly pulled his hand back. "It did not do that before..." Reaching slowly, Youko pursued the testing of the katana's energy. Another larger zap of power traveled the length of the kitsune's arm and Kurama was forced to pull back and cradle the appendage to his chest.

"Hiei?" Yusuke invited.

"Hn," the fire demon snorted. "I have already made my attempt to remove it from her grasp. I have more sense then to attempt that again."

They all looked up when the slap of feet on stone and the tortured breathing of the other member of their team echoed through the cave. "What," Kuwabara gasped and put his hands on his knees to lean over and catch his breath, "happened?"

Yusuke scowled at the figure and shook his head at the human. Suddenly, he got a wicked gleam in his eyes and grinned at the heaving boy. Standing up, he walked over to the other and slapped him on the back in a friendly gesture. "Glad you could make it!" he smirked. "We were just deciding who was going to carry the sword there," he said pointing. "It is a very important artifact and we need to get it and the girl to the Toddler as soon as possible."

"Yusuke!" Kurama admonished, not wanting to see the other boy injured just for Yusuke's amusement. Hiei was smirking slightly and waiting to see the big oaf try to wield _that_ blade...

"I'll carry it," Kuwabara answered and puffed up in pride. "I won't get a single scratch on it!" He looked at the blade cheerfully and ignored the way that it was already so dented and rusted no one would see another scratch anyway and swooped down to get it.

"Wait, Kuwabara!" Kurama jumped up and Hiei quickly moved away to stand beside the sniggering Yusuke.

Kuwabara calmly grabbed the scabbard of the blade and with gentle fingers pried the girls grasp away from the worn wood. He straightened up and swung the blade several times before tucking it under one large arm. With a confused grin, he pointed to the girl who was once again whimpering at his feet. "Do I get to carry her too?"

"How-!?" Yusuke gaped at his friend and then his face fell into a disappointed scowl.

Hiei merely narrowed his eyes and growled a "no" before he reached out and lifted the girl into his arms again. He straightened himself and cradled her against his chest, immediately raising his body temperature to prepare her for the cold of outside again. He took offence at the shocked stares the others were giving him and snorted. "You would have only have forced her on me anyway," he declared and pushed past them into the bright light of day. "Lets get out of here so that I can be rid of this stupid ningen."

Kurama allowed his transformation to completely dissipate and bit back a grin at the fire demon's expense. Yusuke caught his eye and raised a brow. Kurama only shrugged and swept a hand out to allow Yusuke to precede him from the cavern. It was up to Koenma now...


	7. Chapter 7

Hey everyone...sorry about the late update again...what can I say? I'm lazy...a few weeks off did me some good though. I feel rejuvenate and have been doing some more writing...most of it on other stories that are not out yet... but my muse seems to have returned unexpectedly. So, I have managed to get some of this monster tamed into a few reasonable pages fit for your enjoyment. I hope that chapter eight is kinder...since it IS the point that will launch this story into the real plot.

Until later, read and enjoy!

Sylvannastar and Yabou 

Chapter7 

88888888888

Kuwabara once again found himself leading the others through the endless mounds of white the characterized the northern Makai. He glanced back several times to give Hiei a suspicious glare and received many narrow eyed looks in return. Though not considered the brightest individual, Kuwabara recognized his worth in the team as the strongest at recognizing and feeling out malevolent energies by instinct and spirit awareness. And right now his senses were tingling and burning with every dark look the fire demon glared into the back of his head. He could feel the smaller man's eyes on him and was alert to the silent scowl that warned him of the jagonashi's dissatisfaction with something that he had said or done. Not that it was an unusual feeling but this was rather more extreme then the normal waves of dislike that flowed so freely between them.

Yusuke wasn't helping at all either. The team leader was walking dejectedly with his head hanging slightly to hide the obvious pout on his face. A few grunted phrases spouted from him in cold clouds of steam as he ranted to himself about baka's and swords as he glared banefully at his boots. The vibes coming from him were prickling at Kuwabara with only slightly less intensity then the fire apparition's.

The only calm member of the group was Kurama who was fluctuating between energetic curiosity and pensive confusion. The fox spirit keep running every bit of information he had gathered from his observations on this mission through his mind and still came up with no concrete answers to the puzzle of the girl and her sword. He slanted a sideways look at the girl limply dangling in his friends arms and shortened his step so that he was once again walking beside Hiei.

Hiei ignored the fox when he began to match his steps and pretended not to see the questioning looks Kurama was tossing at him. If the fox had questions, he could very well keep them to himself. He was having enough problems restraining his own curiosity. And this was no place for an interrogation, nor was the girl in any shape to answer anyway.

He slowed his steps in an attempt to give Kurama the hint that he did not wish for, nor require company. Predictably, the spirit fox was just as adept at ignoring him and his subtle hints as Hiei was. Resined to the forced companionship, Hiei tightened his grip on the woman and looked at Kurama from the corner of one eye.

Kurama grinned happily at that singular sign of recognition and cheerfully added a lighter bounce to his step. "So?" he urged, wanting the fire apparitions opinions on recent events.

"Hn," Hiei answered and resumed ignoring the laughing fox.

"Right," Kurama teased. "That's what I thought too." He then turned his attention to the girl were he resumed staring with undisguised interest.

Hiei automatically followed that gaze and noticed that the sleeping girl in his arms had exchanged her death grip on the weapons for one fastened on his shirt front. He could tell that she wouldn't stay unconscious for long this time and was actually waiting for her to open those stunning blue eyes again. She would murmur in her sleep, strange names and garbled sentences.

Hiei caught the look that the silver spirit was now giving the girl and rolled his eyes. "She is injured, fox."

Kurama flashed him that stunning smile and chuckled. "What's wrong Hiei? Jealous? You were never interested before..."

Hiei ignored the teasing fox's blatant attempted to bait him and simply denied his allegation with a quiet "Hn."

"I would of course, wait until she was better," he taunted. "But don't worry, you'll always be dear to my heart."

Hiei chose not to dignify that with an answer. Instead he pulled the girl closer to him, unaware how telling that motion was to the observant fox. They had about a two hour walk before Yusuke's communicator would get a steady signal to Reikai's central office. Botan was supposed to be waiting to open a portal as soon as they called in their success.

"You realize," Kurama continued, completely unconcerned with Hiei's lingering silence, "If you stare at him any harder, he'll likely burst into flames." He gestured slightly at Kuwabara with one slim hand.

"Hn," Hiei said again with a trace of genuine amusement seeping through the normal indifference. Hiei gladly took up the mental image of the tall human consumed in fire and smirked slightly. It was especially gratifying considering just how annoying it was to watch the idiot caressing the mysterious katana. A sword that no one else could touch. A sword that had mysteriously appeared in the hands of a human girl. A sword with powers they could only guess at. A sword that had refused him...

Thinking about that weapon in the hands of an idiot pissed him off. Something that powerful and that unique had no place in the hands of that ningen goon. Hiei went back to scowling as he watched Kuwabara run his big paws over the hilt of that strange blade again and again.

"It seems strange that a demon blade would refuse the touch of a demon but accept that of a human." Kurama displayed a knack for following Hiei's line of thoughts without effort. If you didn't know them, you would think that the fox was the one with the ability to invade the minds of others. In truth, he simply had a natural ability to pick up the ways that others thought and acted and could predict them well enough to give the impression that he knew their thoughts. It was handy in battle, but vaguely irritating other times.

Hiei twisted his lips in a soundless snarl and felt his energy spike unnecessarily with his anger. The girl twitched in his grasp and several small worry lines appeared on her face. She wasn't dreaming anymore, and was slowly working her way back to consciousness. He watched her face for several heartbeats before he was interrupted by Kurama again.

"She will wake soon?" the fox spirit asked him.

Hiei nodded once and faced resolutely forward again. He had hoped to get her to Koenma before that, but with the speed they were going, he doubted she would wait that long. Koenma would surely have some answers...and a few healers around.

A sharp movement in the front of the line drew their attention to their team leader. Cussing in typical fashion, Yusuke shoved the long hair that came with his demon transformation out of his face and called Kuwabara to a halt. Impatient with their progress, Yusuke stopped to flip open the compact communicator. The screen in the cover stubbornly remained blank and unresponsive and the young detective frowned darkly at the device. "I can't believe this. The fate of three worlds could be resting on faulty technology...We should be close to the pick up point by now," he sighed. He snapped it closed to watch Kuwabara begin to play with the sword.

Kuwabara couldn't contain his curiosity any longer. He knew that there was something about the ancient katana that the others were concerned about, but he felt nothing. There was no tingling of his senses, no tickle to pinpoint the source of their frustration with the thin strip of metal. He lowered his brow in confusion and swung the blade several times through the snow before pulling it completely from its sheath. The blade looked worse than its protective cover and Kuwabara wasn't the only one eying the sword critically.

"This is a magical artifact?" Kuwabara questioned and swung it several more times at an imaginary enemy. Just for fun, he took a mocking swipe at Yusuke and was surprised to see all three of his companions dive for cover.

Hiei jarred the girl hard against his shoulder when he jumped out of the idiot's path and felt her grip on him tighten. He cursed silently at the oblivious baka and shifted her weight gingerly to slightly free his sword hand in case he had to take more direct action. Hiei's best defense was offense and he had no problem with taking Kuwabara's head from his shoulders if he moved to threaten them again, intentional or not...

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU PLAYING AT?!" Yusuke shouted after he finally surfaced from the snow drift he had taken refuge in.

"Oh, come on, Uremeshi. You know I would never actually hit you..." Kuwabara cajoled. He rubbed the back of his head with one hand and pointed the sword at the nervous detective with the other in an absent minded gesture.

"As if you could!" Yusuke fumed and fisted his fingers together but resisted the urge to knock some sense into the idiot. That technique had proven wasted on the other human, but was still satisfying on another level. Yusuke chose instead to cross his arms over his chest and stare defiantly at the dull katana. 

"Put it away," Kurama softly told Kuwabara. "That is no toy."

Kuwabara heard the subtle threat in the kitsune's words and recognized the danger that they signified. The fox rarely made demands and when he did, there was good reason. Though he had not personally seen the threat in the dented sword, he trusted Kurama's judgement enough to quickly comply. Kuwabara hastily sheathed the blade again and shrugged apologetically.

Yusuke snorted, his mood soured considerably more then it had been. He scowled angrily at Kuwabara as he dug a hand full of snow out of the neck of his coat. "Baka," he accused.

"Hn," Hiei agreed, his disdain for the other clear in that one sound of agreement.

"Keep moving," Yusuke barked the order. "I want to get out of here as soon as possible."

Kuwabara heaved a long suffering sigh but obediently twisted around and shoved his way through the drifts again. He wasn't fool enough to keep pissing them off, though he didn't know what he had done to begin with. And he refused to question them now. He had no desire to get trussed up and left behind when Botan came to get them. Kuwabara scowled at the thought for the simple reason that they would actually do it if they thought they could get away with it.

The team stayed quiet and brooded for the next half hour as they followed Kuwabara's path, though at a more respectable distance then they had previously held. They caught sight of him turning to look over his shoulder from time to time to convince himself that they were still back there and plowed on.

The hesitant beeping of Yusuke's communicator interrupted their individual introspective pondering.

"Finally!" Yusuke exclaimed and flipped open the top of his communicator. "Oi! Botan!"

"Hai, hai!" She answered with enough cheer to set their teeth on edge. "Ready to come back to Reikai, Yusuke?"

Way ahead, Kuwabara heard the high pitched sound of Botan's giggles and rushed back to crowd Yusuke's shoulder as the team gathered around their leader. Yusuke growled several unflattering things at the grinning ferry girl that she easily ignored.

"Just open the fucking portal!" he shouted into the device.

The small figure of lady death casually pouted at the detectives and injected a whine of her own at them. "Mou! There's no need to get so mad at me. I'll be right there." Her image flickered once before fading away completely.

Yusuke snapped the compact shut and flopped over backwards where he sunk several inches into the soft snow and moaned. "Kami, it will be good to be warm again..."

Hiei narrowed his eyes at them all and felt a strange reluctance to leave. Now that he knew that they would be in Reikai's central office in moments, he knew that both sword and girl would be taken away from him and he would get none of the answers that he was so determined to have. If Koenma thought that he could get away with it, he would strictly deny the existence of both human and katana as soon as they were out of the detectives' sight. Hiei refused to let this case go so easily. This time, he was interested.

He stared into the sleeping face of the ningen in his arms. She still seemed so fragile. The pale skin against that ebony hair and the angry red of her wounds stood out sharply. He felt the urge to trace those cuts and imperfections with his fingers but shook it off when an idea that had been teasing him from the moment he had seen her came back to the surface. After all, she was no longer dying...

Suppressing the conflicting waves of guilt and anticipation, Hiei allowed his Jagon eye to crack open under his headband. He stared intently at the peaceful face on the sleeping girl and contemplated the strange way that he hesitated to take what he wanted from her mind. _She's just a ningen, _He told himself. _Just a woman..._

Hiei refused to back out when the female pouted slightly in her sleep. He would not be swayed by a weak human girl. He took a deep breath and focused silently before he allowed the Jagon to widen and examine his charge. Then, he took the opportunity and peaked into her mind...

(Co-authored section! )

Kagome twisted her fingers absently in the torn material of her once white school shirt. Even in her dream scape, little reminders of the most horrific moment of her life, like the tattered cloth, followed her. No matter how much she concentrated, how much she tried to focus on other things, better things, there was always some small detail that brought the darkness back.

Kagome allowed the winds of memories past sweep over her without any awkward attempts at catching them. She had been in this place before and knew that any moves to do so would only frustrate her. However if she sat quietly, then perhaps the memories that would choose to linger would be of happier times.

She recalled the last terror of Inuyasha's transformation into his full demon state with a clarity that needed no reminding. Yet her mind could not seem to let it go. It was like there was a piece of her that was broken and she could only recall the bits of her life that had led her to the edges of despair. Kagome mentally thanked whatever force had saved her from those last moments of that particular memory. That strange warmth, a blanket of protectiveness had returned with a suddenness that had driven the hurt away and left her here...

She looked around at the swirls of nothing until another picture formed of its own violation. This time, she neither repressed the image with what little control she still possessed, not did she try to turn from it. She recognized that these things were all moments in her life that meant something. All of them, no matter how inane, was a reminder. A reminder, a reason, a warning, they each had a purpose.

Kagome calmly gazed at the shifting image, holding back the ebbing fear that it would be that one terrible moment in time replayed yet again. But when the colors solidified she sighed in relief, content to watch a simple reflection of kinder times. When a familiar puffed tail materialized, she even managed a slight smile in the privacy of her mind. She watched....and she remembered...

_Kagome examined a stone in the palm of her hand; its smooth surface cool against her skin. Smiling vibrantly, she looked over to the small kit sitting by her side, carefully watching her for any sign of pleasure. "It's beautiful, Shippou. Thank you very much. Where ever did you find such a magnificent present?"_

_He beamed brightly back at her, cerulean eyes shining with child-like joy. "I found it when we stopped at the river this afternoon to eat lunch. Inuyasha said it was stupid." He pouted, turning to give aforementioned demon a quick glare. "But I knew you would love it."_

_The miko nodded happily along with his story, "Of course I would-."_

_A loud sound resonated through the small group's campsite as a raging woman stormed to the fireside. Magenta eyes shined with fury, and her hands clenched violently by her sides._

_"Sango-sama, I did not mean to…my hand slipped!" A man in violent and black robes tottered after her, quickly grabbing her hands in his own and kneeling on the ground in front of her. "Surely, you cannot blame them."_

Kagome let out a small "O" of surprised distress fall from her lips when the image faded into smoke and was wisped away into the realm of her own unconscious. She let her trembling shoulders droop at the loss and watched the spinning swirls collide and merge with the others.

Before another could take its place, a small prodding of her contained powers warned her of some new problem. She could no longer spread her senses outward, so she had to be content to look within for a hint of the trouble that was surely coming. A careful touch upon her nerves and the thrill of youki stunned her. She had spent so long under carefully contained barriers of both her own and others making that the sensation of being invaded seemed so impossible, she had trouble believing it. The touch was not evil, not mischievous, but seeking, searching, and that was so much worse... Kagome felt the firm intrusion of another into her own mind and panicked.

(End of co-authored section. Thanks Yabou!)

Botan opened the portal with ease and stuck her head through to make certain that it was in the right place. Yusuke's scowl was, oddly enough, a comforting sight to the frazzled ferry girl. Just because they had been out longer than anticipated, she had remained on alert until the call had finally gone through to Yusuke's portable communicator.

"There you are!" she scolded and waved at them. "Over here, guys!"

Yusuke and Kuwabara dived for the opening without warning the blue haired woman of their intent and she barely moved away in time to avoid a collision. She watched in concern as they shimmied out of their jackets and blushed when she noticed the missing shirts. Clods of snow melted in puddles on Koenma's office floor as they stripped from the constricting material and slumped in various chairs.

Botan twisted her head back around to look through the hole in the wall that led to the frozen region of Makai and met Kurama's amused green eyes. He stepped from one world to the other as soon as she murmured her apology and got out of the way.

This time her focus on the sedate kitsune was more curious than concerned. The fox spirit was calm as usual, but there was a light in his eyes that only showed when he had found a new puzzle, a new challenge. Botan briefly wondered what that could possibly be when they had gone to the emptiest place in the three lands when she remembered that there was still one more member of the team to collect.

Botan twisted back around and stared at the hole in the barrier that was slowly draining her energies. When the fire demon refused to show, she wrinkled her nose impatiently and stuck her head back through the opening. "Hiei? Are you coming now?" she asked, searching for the black that would stand out in all that white.

Botan's felt her jaw go slack as she stared at the figure poised in perfect stillness just on the edges of her portal. "H-Hiei!" she exclaimed and pointed in horror at the wounded woman draped in his arms. "What have you done?!"

She rushed through the opening and had to drag her feet through the cold snow to get to the two creatures on the other side. She was vaguely aware of Kurama following her to watch the proceedings with interest. "Hiei!" she gasped again and frowned when she received no response. "H-Hiei? Hello?"

Botan waved her hand in front of his face but he remained stone still and his eyes were distant. Even the hesitant tap on his arm provided no reaction. She turned to the slightly frowning kitsune now watching them from the safety of the Reikai Central Office and shrugged.

"Hiei?" Kurama called out, concern for the fire apparition in his voice. "Botan, get in here." Kurama told the girl after a sufficient pause confirmed that there was something dangerously wrong with the jagonashi.


	8. Chapter 8

After a stressful break, I am back and here is chapter 8 for your enjoyment. AN is on my author's page if you care to look. Oh, and the stars I usually use to show the changes in scene or POV are not showing up so I just marked the places they would normally be.

Sylvannastar

Chapter 8

Kurama stepped back through the portal and cautiously circled the petrified pair standing in a circle of steam and slush. "Hiei?" he called again softly.

A strange glowing came from under the white strip of cloth around Hiei's forehead and Kurama inched closer. When he was close enough to feel the heat radiating off the other demon, Kurama stopped and considered his options. "What are you doing, my friend?" he questioned softly.

888scene change888

Hiei was impressed by the strength of the mind he was attempting to see into. The barriers surrounding the girl's thoughts were skillfully placed and were contained by a strange power that he was not familiar with. He knew that there were some humans born in the world that had a natural psychic barricade that obstructed invasions such as the one that he was now attempting. He could only assume that she was one of those rare ningens with such a gift.

The imitation of a common and current energy, or emotion was the easiest and fastest way to break into anothers mind, emotion being the key because it was easily manipulated and changed by outside influences. One of the most common door ways that Hiei was familiar with was greed and vanity. The shallow processes, especially of the human mind, was just enough to allow him in and to dominate.

Hiei began looking for a way in. As fragile as the human mind is, he did not realize that it would be so difficult to find a common wavelength that would mesh with his energies long enough for him to get a hold on her. The trick was in discovering the exact experience that he would have to mimic in order to gain that grip on her mind. He had to first guess what she was experiencing in that moment before he could imitate that same pattern into his own aura and slip in.

He found a weakness along the boundary in her mind that had so far barred his attempts to find her consciousness. He was surprised by her resistance to the regular tricks that made humans so easy to read. She had no traces of greed or vanity in her aura when he searched for them. She was not consumed by bitterness or ambitions. No, the doorway he found was in guilt and heartache, so strong but so well hidden that his own energies flared in protest at the idea of mocking the intensity of that feeling. But what would have made this weak human woman experience such an emotion to such a degree? When he exerted his own pressure with the help of the Jagon, he slipped through that timid mental crack with cautious ease. When he was firmly connected, he opened his senses and Hiei was stunned by what his third eye was projecting back to him.

A kaleidoscope of half formed images and thoughts twisted about without form or direction. Chaos in its most primal form was wrecking havoc in this woman's mind. He had never experienced disorder of this degree in the mind of another. It was as if there was no solid essence to her that was coherent. She was constantly shifting and spinning, her entire mind a storm made from the debris of her thoughts and emotions. She was shattered.

Hiei shuddered to a halt in his searching and took a moment to create a parody of his physical form in her head. It was naturally easier to direct his actions and movement if he had the illusion of control over a body more tangible. The force of his energy and his own thoughts were carefully constructed and manifested into a replica of his real body. The body became a focus for his powers and provided a way for him to regain a solid perception of what he was experiencing. This careful construction of a false form also protected him from dispersing his own consciousness into the girl's mind. He was looking for information, not attempting a possession. Merging with this kind of chaos would only shatter his own defenses and pull the taint of disorder into his own head.

Hiei growled at the thought and was surprised by the impression of actual sound that echoed around him. It should have not been possible for this mere slip of a girl to find a way to express the impressions of life. She had managed to not only recollect the experiences of life, but recreate them as well. Her mind, though seemingly wrought by insanity, was so very focused. Sound and color and form all implied a great strength of mind in this one weakened human girl. If she had the mental capacity to not only recall ideas in her memory, but also project them, then he concluded that she must have some of the strongest mental abilities that he had ever come across in a human.

After several seconds of watching the swirling masses of her thoughts and memories, Hiei began to curse at the vertigo and his general lack of progress. There was nothing tangible here to find. He scowled unhappily at this revelation. If he were to ever peak into the mind of an insane creature, Hiei fully believed that this is what he would find. The girl must have completely lost her grip on reality and was now lost to them. The thought made him strangely sad to think about.

"No! Don't do that!"

Hiei snapped to attention when a voice not his own yelled out and he followed the source to the manifested form of the girl who's body he was standing in. That she had managed to create the same kind of focus as he was using surprised him again. This ningen woman was proving to be full of surprises.

Kagome emerged from her panicked hiding place when she recognized the form of the dark haired man from her last conscious experience. He was standing there for several minutes before he started to project a faint aura of sadness that the vortex of her mind quickly swallowed and made use of.

Hiei blinked his shock and allowed his eyes to travel over her detailed copy of her true corporal form. The wounds were gone from her flesh, though she had recreated her torn clothing perfectly. Dark hair billowed out over her shoulders and blew gently in a breeze the could not really exist here. Those stunning blue eyes that he had been repressing his longing to see again were narrowed in a scowl that he responded to.

"What the hell is going on here?!" Hiei exclaimed and glanced around himself in puzzlement. There was no way that this human woman had the strength of mind to do what she was doing. He ignored her projected form while trying to still his scattered thought. He never expected an answer and was stunned to hear her reply.

"I think that everything is just re-adjusting," she shrugged and moved up beside him.

Hiei couldn't help himself. "Re-adjusting to what?"

Kagome turned a disbelieving stare on her intruder and frowned. "To what?! What do you think!? To the very thing that started this whole mess in the first place!"

Hiei was not sure how to respond to her. There was several things about this that made little sense to him. Her very presence in the midst of all this chaos, her lack of concern about his presence in her mind, the meaning behind all of this hidden behind her obviously sarcastic words. Hiei felt a momentary rise of anger at his confusion and at her vague answer and was rewarded by another fierce frown.

"I told you to stop doing that!" she insisted and crossed her arms over her chest. "You are going to make things worse."

"Who the hell are you?!" he exploded and turned on her. It was automatic for him to reach out a restraining hand to capture her wrist, but it was when the sensation of flesh on flesh registered in his mind that he recognized physical touch shouldn't be possible. Her small arm under his hand denied that law. Hiei released her with a curse and stepped away from her.

"If you don't quit projecting emotions like that, I'm going to have to contain you," she threatened with a waving finger under his nose. "Angel or not," she firmly stated and watched the man with a wary eye.

Hiei grit his teeth together and forced himself to ignore that idiotic threat, before he roughly pressed upon the girl holding his attention so completely. "I am NOT an angel!" he protested. "I am a warrior!".

"Of course you are," she sounded amused. "What other kind of protector could have possibly followed me through this life?"

"Are you dense, woman?! I am a demon! Look at me!" he demanded.

Slightly surprised by his declaration, Kagome re-accessed her impressions of the dark man. Her eyes widened slightly in comprehension. Hiei expected her to crumple in fear, to scream, to try to run from his presence. He did not expect the softening of her expression or the gentle look in her eyes.

"I see," Kagome replied softly and looked him over before meeting his hard crimson gaze. She reached out a delicate hand to touch the fire apparition. "It's the same thing in the end, isn't it?" she asked softly. "Demon, angel, human, its all the same."

"Humans are nothing like demons," Hiei spat out. He was desperate to dispel the confusion she was creating in his well ordered world. She was not responding right, she was not following the rules. She was not afraid of him. Hiei searched for a anchor and found it in his bitterness. "We do not have the same weaknesses that you pitiful humans have. You and your stupid emotions and petty goals. There is no comparison."

"No?" she asked, looking puzzled. "Are you not angry right now? A stupid human emotion? Sad? Regretful, even? Don't we have enough similarities to relate to one another?"

Hiei heard her soft chuckling when he refused to reply and felt a growing need to escape this madwoman and her effects on him. Hiei felt himself swell with anger at the insolence of this human girl. His red eyes snapped with suppressed rage that she seemed to see, but was totally unconcerned about. He didn't even stop to think about why her flippant attitude had the power to draw any type of response from him at all. Here, in her mind, Hiei felt his control over his own emotions slipping away. It was as if what ever he was feeling was being amplified by the chaos in her head.

"Oh no!" the girl suddenly pouted and turned to point a finger rudely at him. "Look at what you've done! I told you to stop that!"

Hiei took a step back and hissed his displeasure but carefully took note of how the swirl of color around them began to darken and shapes and faces began to twist about in the mass. Wary of some sort of attack, Hiei was shocked to see the twisted face of a large blue oni scream at them before being sucked back into the vortex. Several other faces peeked out at them, some human, most not, and Hiei grew more and more tense at the moments passed.

"What is this?!" he forced out between clenched teeth.

"Dammit," the girl sucked in a breath and frowned unhappily. She opened her mouth to reply when she was interrupted by the stream of memory solidifying into the image of a dark haired woman in an old fashioned Kimono. Dresses to the finest detail of a princess of a day long since past, she stepped from the darkness and waited.

Hiei stared at the figure and wrapped his hands around the projection of his sword still seeming to rest at his hip. The woman was tall, willowy, and clothed in the finest of clothes...but she had no face. No face...

"Why?" the girl at his side whispered quietly to herself. "I don't want to see this again."

"Again?!" Hiei demanded and snuck a glance at the distraught girl before growling a warning at the creature poised before them. He couldn't help the wave of anger that was spilling out of him now. He had no way of determining what was going on, or how to deal with it. Normally when Hiei was presented with something he didn't like, he killed it, forced it out of his presence. But this, he had no idea what was happening around him. He had no control. HE HAD NO CONTROL! A burst of raw rage at his predicament and helplessness cycled through the fire apparition. With a bit of shock, he noted that the intensity of his responses was fueling the images in front of him.

Now, the faceless woman was joined by a hideous toad creature even shorter than he was and _another_ image of the girl standing at his side. He tightened his grip on the hilt of his katana and bared his teeth at the figures. The younger version of the girl ran at the woman and splashed through the vague image of a pond until the faceless woman wailed mournfully and vanished. If he were made of weaker stuff, he would have been screaming in the shared madness by now.

Instead he rounded on the girl at his side and opened his mouth to demand answers of her. Before he could get a word out, the human reached out and gently shoved him backward.

"Leave now," she said to the shocked demon. "If you can't behave yourself, then I must insist that you leave."

Hiei felt himself fading from her consciousness before he could voice or demonstrate a protest against her.

Kagome laughed and shook her head when he disappeared. "I suppose that it makes more sense that my spiritual protector would be a demon..." she mused.

888scene change888

The pale glow of energy from Hiei's implanted Jagon seemed to throb in the muted atmosphere. It was the only sign of life that Kurama could visibly see on his friend. Kurama forced himself to take several steps back when the white binding over the eye began to burn off. His own eyes narrowed in regard. The fox spirit attempted to avoid seeming a threat to the half lidded third eye.

Without warning, the faint glow of Hiei's Jagon flared to life with a blinding flash that sent a throb of power through the lands that could be physically felt. At the same time, Hiei cried out in anger and Kurama launched himself at his friend and their captured human girl and tackled them through the portal.

With an audible snap, the rip in space collapsed in upon itself and any and all effects of the explosion of energy Hiei had just released were lost in another world. Kurama rolled to his feet on the marbled floor of Reikai and twisted himself around in the same motion to watch the fire apparition skid to a halt with the human girl still held tight to his chest.

Hiei was breathing harshly and Kurama could see the slightest trembling of his legs as he worked to stand after draining so much youki at one time. Kurama remained across the room from the smaller demon and watched intently. Yusuke and Kuwabara were sitting straight up and wide eyed while waiting for an explanation for the spike of Hiei's power that had just rippled up their spines when there was no enemy in sight.

Hiei clenched his teeth and all three of his eyes shut until the ringing in his head subsided to a more manageable level. With his usual scowl amplified to a dark glower, he stared down every raised brow in the room with a silent refusal to answer their unspoken questions. He shook his head again and proudly raised his chin. "Ask her," he stated and dropped the girl on Koenma's massive wooden desk where she whimpered from the withdrawal of the warmth of his aura.

Koenma had arrived in his room right after Kurama had followed Botan back through the portal to drag in the seemingly reluctant fire apparition. Every attempt to question the other two idiots had resulted in their rude shushing and exhausted rude gestures. Now, with the four members of the team once again in a realm that he could keep an eye on, he was ready to find out what they had discovered on this mission and if it was a threat. He was ready to hear about a massing enemy army. He was ready to hear about some powerful demon set on world domination. He was ready for mayhem and chaos. He had not been ready for a temperamental fire demon to just drop a half dead human girl on his desk.

Koenma stared down in concern at the girl before he hurriedly called Botan over to heal the wounds still sluggishly seeping blood. He shot a reproving look at the fire apparition who took his normal stance at the back wall and received one of the harshest glares he had ever seen in response. Quickly looking away, Koenma pointedly focused his attention on the human decorating his desk. Botan shoved her way between him and the woman before he could get a good look at the details of the poor soul deposited so roughly on top of his paperwork.

"Well," he whined. "Who is going to tell me what happened?"

Yusuke rolled his eyes and waved vaguely at Kurama who was currently staring at a fuming Hiei. The violent light in the red eyed, Jaganashi shifted to encompass the other occupants of the room when he realized that Kurama wasn't the only one giving him that assessing look. "_She _would be the one with your answers," he hissed at them and folded his arms over his chest in a gesture meant to impart his intent to ignore further questioning.

"I don't think that is going to be possible anytime soon," Botan prompted and gained their attention. "She's pretty torn up."

"So we noticed," Yusuke pointed out with a scowl. "And before you start pointing fingers, we found her like that."

"Out there?" Koenma gaped.

"Where else have we been? Of course out there!" Yusuke frowned and took another stab at straightening the long strands of dark hair sprouting from his head. "She was just lying there in the snow all by her self. We figured that you would know who she is."

"I haven't a clue," Koenma admitted with a serious note of concern laced into his words. "But we had better find out fast. Was she the source of the power surge?" he asked innocently and began shoving aside random files cluttering the room while Botan worked at pouring her healing energies into the pale girl.

"No, she was not," Kurama finally spoke up, his calm even voice ringing with confidence. "But we believe that this is." Kurama pointed a slim finger at a ragged katana covered in a ratty wooden sheath and prompted Kuwabara to raise the weapon up to everyone's view.

The skeptical glare that the young spirit ruler gave the object under discussion was unimpressive due entirely to the fierce stare Hiei was still offering from the shadows of the room. Koenma firmed his posture and moved toward the object that looked like it couldn't cut anything firmer than milk. "That?" he queried. "You think _that_ is what set off the sensors?"

"Looks like an ordinary sword to me," Kuwabara agreed with the spirit ruler and hefted the object in his hand.

"And you think otherwise?" Koenma frowned at the spirit fox resting casually across the room from them. Koenma briefly wondered when the fox had moved and why he would have increased the space between them so dramatically before turning his attention to the blade. "It looks harmless," he announced doubtfully.

"Looks can be deceiving," Kurama answered softly. "Yusuke, a demonstration?" he requested.

"Me?!" Yusuke yelped and leapt to his feet, successfully entangling his left hand hopelessly in his own hair. "Why me? That thing _hurts!_""

"Give it here," Koenma sighed and waved his tiny hands at Kuwabara.

"That is not a good idea!" Yusuke protested with a yelp and tore a chunk of his hair out in his hurry to get as far away from the katana as possible. A glance from the corner of his eye showed that he was closer to the seething fire demon than was healthy and had to rethink his retreat.

"Why ever not?" Koenma rolled his eyes and approached Kuwabara who was nodding along with the diminutive spirit ruler. He stopped and craned his head back until he was able to see the tattered sword up close and glowered at the tall human when he didn't bend down so that Koenma could reach it. "Well," he announced, "give it here."

Kuwabara for some reason was wary of handing the innocent, but rusty blade to his boss. The others where worried for a reason. Just because he didn't know what that reason was didn't make him a fool. They knew something that he didn't, which while being nothing new, was familiar territory and he was well experienced enough to know that it was usually best to follow their lead. "Perhaps I should..." he began hesitantly but was cut off by Botan's call from across the room.

"Koenma-sama, I think that she will be okay now. She still has quite a bit of healing to do, but I think she's gonna make it." Botan wiped a relieved arm over her forehead and sagged against the wooden desk next to her patient.

"Really?" the toddler asked curiously and trotted back to his desk to examine the misplaced human. "Can she be woken up for questioning?"

Botan eyed her boss with disapproval but nodded her head. "But not for long," she admonished. "She needs her rest to get better."

Koenma clapped his hands together once and gleefully proclaimed "Finally, some answers!"

The others sighed in relief when the sword was abandoned in favor of the girl. And they obviously agreed with Koenma's sentiments about having answers. So far, in this whole mess, they had failed to find answers to anything. But questions, they had many of those.

Against the far wall, red eyes glinting dangerously, Hiei closely watched the others gather in a tight circle around the human girl. He was perhaps the only one not interested in those answers. Hiei was no longer concerned about who she was, or how she got to the Makai. No. All he had only one question that he wanted an answer to. How the hell had she managed to push him out of head?

888That is it for this chapter888

thank you for being so patient,

Sylvannastar


End file.
